Zyuoh Raven
by Doctor Sh
Summary: Corvus has resurrected in the material plane with a powerful new form. Can the Zyuohgers and an experienced Black Ops soldier stop him before it's too late? Or will he turn the world in to a new Frozen Forest? A conflict between the forces of life and death begins now!
1. An Unkindness

Hey everybody! As this is my first fanfiction, I should introduce myself to you guys. My name is Doctor Sh and I enjoy playing video games and watching movies.

Sometimes though, instead of just experiencing a story, I get the feeling like I want to create one and share it with people like you. Even though I have many ideas in my head, I don't want to spread my focus too wide. That's why I've worked hard for approximately a year drafting this story and now I know where I want it to go. No work is truly perfection, but that's what I strive for, and I'm open to any advice or criticisms any of you may have going forward with my story.

You've seen the summary, but here's some supplementary information to make the setting and continuity more clear:

Canon with all events and anything explicitly mentioned in Zyuohger. Of course, I'm my own writer, so there may be liberties taken with the characters. I'll try to keep them accurate though.

Non-canon to Black Ops. This is an AU where Super Sentai and Black Ops co-exist and some events in the past may have changed.

This series will have 14 chapters, set between Zyuohger episode 40 and 41. I intend to upload weekly and I apologize in advance if I'm unable to meet this expectation. I'm usually pretty punctual though, so try not to worry about that too much.

I believe this story warrants a T rating. There will be violence, blood and death, natural for the action genre. Only minor swearing, no f***s, s***s or c***s. Definitely no nudity. That's a promise.

At the heart of this story is the interaction between characters and a mystery entangling both sides of the conflict.

I will add a cover image later.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

 **Disclaimer: Toei owns Super Sentai and Activision owns Call Of Duty. I own nothing except my OCs.**

* * *

 **An Unkindness**

"Is this what death looks like?"

He was alone and scared, marooned in an empty white place without a physical form. To his surprise, an answer was granted. There were no words, just a flash of images in his consciousness. He understood what happened to him. He remembered the two soldiers who destroyed his land and exiled him to the void. He recalled the fear and pain he experienced as they took his life. But here he was still alive in this strange place, connected to the Earth itself. "Yes, this is the power I've longed for!" he said. At his command, black feathers swooped around and converged to rebuild his body. And so he began his journey anew. He resolved to find the six devices, six keys to the Earth. If he could obtain them, he could turn the world in to a new Frozen Forest. His name was Corvus. He emerged in the corporeal realm, no longer bound to the minds of augmented humans. Champion of the Death, Zyuoh Raven!

Their tails sprung up detecting a disturbance in the woods. Sela, Leo, Tusk and Amu. The four Zyumen severed from their home. They followed their instincts with their human comrades on their literal tails. Kazakiri Yamato the crazy biology fanatic and Mondo Misao the chronically depressed. Despite their quirks, the six of them together were an unstoppable team of justice-loving superheroes called the Zyuohgers. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to face their greatest trial yet. The Zyumen's tails trembled more and more as they approached the source. Eventually, they arrived at a clearing surrounded by tall trees. "It's here." said Sela. They searched around but couldn't find anything. "Have your tails deceived you?" asked Yamato. "I'm not sure, this sensation is worse than before." said Amu anxiously.

"Salutations, chosen guardians of the Link Cube!"

They heard the loud deep voice. It seemed to emit from various points in the vicinity so they couldn't track it down. "Show yourself coward. Come here and fight us like a man!" shouted Leo. Sela covered her sensitive ears, their voices were giving her a headache. "Uh, hey guys, look at the trees." said Tusk. They observed the branches and saw an army of black feathered birds. Yamato used his enhanced sight to identify their species. They had tuft on their beaks and a metallic blue shine. Their cold white eyes stared back like they were looking at tasty worms. "Ravens. You can tell by the color of their fea-" he started. "Why are there so many?" asked Misao interrupting his lecture. The pack of heroes stood in a circle formation covering each other's backs from whatever ethereal force was about to strike.

The birds started to gronk loudly and fly around them. From the ground perspective, they were moving counterclockwise. One by one, they broke from the swirling vortex and dived down. There were feet, then thighs, then a torso and arms. Finally, a head. Before them stood an intimidating humanoid monster. It looked just like a Zyuohger, one of them, but he wasn't on their side. This one was black. The gloves and boots were still white but the cuffs were the same shiny blue as the birds' reflective coats. A white outline of a diving raven decorated the chest and a skull adorned the front of the mask. A long split cape made of feathers wavered on his back. His icy visor met the gaze of his quivering opponents.

"An evil black Zyuohger!" said Leo. Misao was suddenly overcome with depression as he fell to his knees. "Micchan, are you okay?" asked Yamato. "That used to be my title." he lamented. The new strongest dark ranger chuckled. "I am Corvus! No, that was my old name. I am the Champion of the Death, Zyuoh Raven!" Sela raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "What do you want?" she asked. He presented a cube shaped golden object in the palm of his hand. "Lost anthropomorphic creature, I want to accumulate these!" It was the Zyuoh Changer Final. They looked at the cube in shock. "That belongs to Bud. How did you get that?!" demanded Yamato. "The bird man put up quite the fight. Alas, I had to beat him up to loosen his grip. He's my prisoner right now." Their eyes opened wide, concerned for the eagle Zyuman they just grew to trust. If this evil character could make light work of an experienced veteran guardian like Bud, they knew not to underestimate him. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." said Zyuoh Raven. One way or another, he wanted their credentials. They hesitated, considering the consequences of both options. They needed to know where Bud was so they could rescue him, but giving such invaluable artifacts to someone with bad intentions was probably not the best idea.

"We swore to protect the planet with our lives. So if you want them, you'll have to defeat us as well!" said Sela with a firm grip on her Zyuoh Changer. The others stood by her side in agreement, they weren't willing to sacrifice the safety of their home. Yamato and the four Zyumen pressed the corresponding buttons on their Zyuoh Changers. "If you're black, then I'll be gold!" said Misao as he turned the cube on his Zyuoh The Light to the crocodile picture.

"Eagle!" "Shark!" "Lion!" "Elephant!" "Tiger!" "Crocodile!"

They rotated their Zyuoh Changers to complete the change picture and Misao pressed the button on the end of the grip against his thigh. "Honno Kakusei!" Spinning cubes of light summoned their Zyuman Power while a heart pounding battle cry sounded in the background.

"Champion of the Skies, Zyuoh Eagle!" "Champion of the Rough Seas, Zyuoh Shark!" "Champion of the Savannah, Zyuoh Lion!" "Champion of the Forest, Zyuoh Elephant!" "Champion of the Snowfield, Zyuoh Tiger!" "Champion of the World, Zyuoh The World!"

"Animal Sentai Zyuohger!"

"Don't mess with this planet!"

Zyuoh Raven chuckled once more. "So be it then." Zyuoh The World Crocodile Form charged at him bravely with his Zyuoh The GunRod, prepared to strike with all his might but Raven just split and converged behind him. "What the fudge!" said The World. Raven laughed maniacally and punched him across the battlefield with ease. The World reverted to Misao and lost consciousness. The others were incapable of helping him, it was all over for their sixth ranger in mere seconds. "Impossible, how do we fight an enemy like that?!" asked Elephant. Even their strategist was finding it difficult to imagine. "Fighting him head on is no good. We need a synchronized attack." said Eagle, taking lead. Raven waited calmly for their next move. "The World has no credentials, no place in this fight. I only want your trinkets!" Lion was provoked by his vicious mockery. "Well, you can't have them!" he shouted with his tone becoming angrier. "Yeah and you can't hurt our friends either!" continued Tiger.

"Yasei Kaihou!" The remaining Zyuohgers unleashed their inner beasts. Zyuoh Eagle flapped his great wings, flying to the dead sky and blasted Raven with his Zyuoh Buster in gun mode. He dodged the bullet effortlessly and the next challengers were the vexed cat Zyumen with sharp claws. Lion used lightning melee attacks, forcing him to evade by moving backwards. Tiger tried to hit him with ice projectiles. The combination of heat and cold created a cloud of smoke. "Did we do it?" asked Tiger. "Beats me!" said Lion. The cloud dispersed and he was gone. "Stay alert guys, he won't flee just like that." said Eagle. Moments later, Lion and Tiger heard and felt the chilling wind of heavy breathing on their backs. "You let your guard down. Big mistake." said Raven. He sent them rolling away with a shattering wave of destruction and they fell unconscious as well. It echoed through the trees making the leaves shake and the critters scramble. "Three down, three to go." said Raven approaching them to collect the credentials.

"Not so fast!" said Elephant stomping his foot to make a shockwave that thrust Raven in to the air. "My turn." said Sela spinning towards him with her fin. He phased through her attack and grabbed her fin, throwing her at Elephant like a ricochet boomerang and knocking them to the ground. He dived back down and hit the surface with seismic force, causing an explosion beneath them. Now it was just Zyuoh Eagle still standing. Or flying in his case. As Raven went to loot the Zyuoh Changers from their idle bodies, Eagle confronted him with his Zyuoh Buster in sword mode even though he figured it was an impossible duel. He wanted to stall him long enough for the others to wake up and escape. "Don't underestimate the connection between humans and Zyumen!" said Eagle. Raven decided to humor him just to show him the fragility of mortals. Whether it was human or Zyuman, he didn't care. He punched him in the face, knocking him out of his Instinct Awakening Mode. "Give up. Your defeat is inevitable." said Raven.

Zyuoh Eagle peeled his battered body off the ground using his sword as a crutch. "I won't know the outcome unless I fight to my last breath!" Raven was getting bored with his persistence. Eagle ran towards him and leaped in the air, striking him vertically but Raven just grabbed the hilt and uppercutted him in the gut. Eagle clenched his fist, trying to channel whatever energy was still left in his body to stand up again. Raven had enough and picked him up by the collar. "If you insist." he said referring to his earlier line. His cape split in to large monstrous wings and he flew him high up in to the thundering clouds. Eagle gasped for oxygen as the air got thinner and thinner and he tried to speak but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. Raven dropped him through several layers of sky and the exhausted Eagle landed with a thud, breaking his suit and rendering him unconscious like the others. However, his injuries were the most severe compared to the rest of his teammates.

Except when Zyuoh Raven returned to the surface, those teammates were gone. They couldn't have retreated on their own in their condition, right? Even if they could have, they wouldn't. Not while their comrade was fighting all on his own for their sakes. Raven was vexed but he found consolation in the fact that he had Yamato and his Zyuoh Changer. "Maybe with you, I can convince them to surrender their credentials as well." he said dragging him away by the collar of his jacket. Where was he taking him? What would become of the distant nomad, Bud? Where did the Zyumen go? Would the Zyuohgers survive the Reckoning of the Raven?!

Meanwhile:

Aboard the Sagittariark, a human scientist was held captive in Cubal's lab, illuminated in an evil shade of dark green. "Okay you monster, it's complete. The augmentation surgery has been fully implemented and accepted by her nervous system. Now keep your promise and return me to the surface." said the scientist. "I'm grateful for your work, so not only will I keep my word, I'll grant you a clean death." said Cubal. The scientist put up his hands to show he meant no harm and stepped back in fear. "No, please, don't! I have a family!" Cubal aimed his handgun at the pleading man. "If only they knew what you did to save yourself. I'm doing them a favor." He fired and blood spilled out from the fresh corpse as it fell to the floor, an empty husk. The callous alien glanced over at the operating table, a sedated female covered by tarp, exposing only the back of her neck and the metal implant that was grafted to it.

"Now then, shall we start the revenge game?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Next time, the Zyumen will meet an OC. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 2 coming soon, watch this space!


	2. History Lesson

Hey everybody! So what do you think of my bad*ss new cover image, huh? I can only take credit for the modification though.

Anyway, I should warn you before you read on that this chapter won't be as eventful as the previous. By that, I mean there's an absence of violence here. Weird for a crossover between Sentai and COD, I know. All the other chapters have violence guaranteed except for this one. Why? Well, it doesn't have much of a purpose in this situation. From here on out, the mystery is going to be more in the foreground. So this is essentially the exposition episode.

I don't think it's necessary to add violence unless it actually contributes to the plot. However, I don't want to disappoint, so I _may_ upload Chapter 3 sooner than originally planned. If real life circumstances allow.

* * *

 **History Lesson**

Sela opened her eyes and focused her sight on a familiar ceiling that belonged to Atelier Mori, the residence of Mario and his nephew Yamato where they have lived since they couldn't go back home. She was lying down in the tub in the bathroom, the shark lady's unorthodox bed of choice. She sat up and comforted her sensitive ears which were still wringing from the explosion. "Maybe it was a dream." she said considering she didn't recall leaving the battlefield.

"It wasn't a dream." called a voice in the doorway. She looked and saw a tall man, early thirties, clad in black, light armor with washy green eyes and a beard that probably hadn't been shaved for several weeks. "And you are?" she asked. Mario didn't get visitors often. "Waiting for you in the lounge. There's much to discuss." he responded.

Determined to find out more, Sela willingly followed him in to the lounge. She was greeted by the presence of fellow Zyumen. Leo, Tusk, Amu, Misao and even Larry! The only person she didn't recognize was this human stranger with a Kuda sub machine gun holstered on his back. Mario, usually heard making onomatopoeic animal noises as he sculpted happily in his room, couldn't be heard at all. And Sela and her comrades who got their tails kicked had their wounds cleaned and bandaged. "Huh, Larry? What's going on?" she asked. "Hola, Señorita! Por favor meet mi amigo, Tsubasa Shirou." said Larry, the Español fluent gorilla Zyuman. "Thanks for the introduction, Larry." said Shirou, the aforementioned armed amigo. "I already know all of you. See, I work for a covert unit called Black Ops." Leo lost his patience with the soldier and jumped off the bunk bed. "Whatever, I don't care. Look man, you promised you were going to explain stuff, so start!" Sela pulled him back and tried to calm him down with a friendly reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Shirou, are you here about that guy, Zyuoh Raven, you know him, don't you?"

Shirou nodded sincerely and the other Zyumen looked at him surprised and confused. They listened with close attention expecting him to bring clarity to the event that occurred earlier. "Zyuoh Raven, formerly Corvus, was an artificial intelligence created by Coalescence." This raised many suspicions to the others. "Why would humans create something like that?" asked Amu. Shirou resumed the backstory. "It was a mistake. He wasn't supposed to turn on mankind, I guess he got too smart for them to handle. His true purpose was, uh, well, it's not important." He quickly changed the subject to prevent controversy. "Anyway, there was a mission last year. Me and my comrade, Nomura Jun, we were tasked with the termination of a dangerous terrorist. That's when we discovered the Link Cube."

Flashback. "Hey Shirou, check it out!" said Jun. "I'll bet it's just another damn critter startling you." said Shirou humoring him anyway. He saw the giant cube shaped structure. "Okay, that's new." he said. "You think Cordis Die's looking for this thing?" asked Jun. "Who knows? Whatever their purpose here, ours is to ensure they fail it." replied Shirou.

The Link Cube was created by the ancient King of Zyuland to give Zyumen a sanctuary where they would be safe from invaders. It could be controlled using the six champion's credentials to change the shape of the world.

"Jun was augmented with a Direct Neural Interface, or DNI for short, an implant in the central nervous system that allows the brain to download information like a computer." Shirou paused and let out a lonely sigh as he reluctantly recited the next part of his tragic tale. "Corvus infected DNIs like a virus, always growing and making people do some very bad things. All infected had to be eliminated. The network was purged and Corvus deleted. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, Jun touched the Link Cube."

Back to flashback. Jun touched it and through this simple contact, a circuit was completed, transferring information between the strange device and his own nervous system in the blink of an eye. "Jun, are you okay?" asked Shirou. "Whoa, man, that was trippy!" said Jun nurturing his headache and ignoring the question. "Geez, stop touching everything, it's dangerous!" scolded Shirou. He heard a rustling in the brushes and immediately unsheathed his gun with impressive reflexes. "Probably just a critter right?" asked Jun. "Not this time, someone was watching us." said Shirou. The two soldiers gave chase.

Amu raised her hand excitedly. "Then what happened?!" she asked. "That's not important right now." replied Shirou dismissing her question. Larry noticed he didn't want to recall that part of the story. Tusk was writing everything down in his notebook, so that they could review it later if necessary. He raised his hand eager to increase his knowledge and confirm his understanding. "So when he touched it, he must have accidentally uploaded Corvus to the network, thus ensuring his survival and resurrection." he concluded. "Si, si! Nice observation." said Larry congratulating him. Larry was also interested in human culture hence why he came all the way from Zyuland to conduct a study.

"But what does he want? He was after our credentials but, why?" asked Sela. As a guardian, she knew how precious they were. Keys to a force of nature that could easily be abused. Shirou feared the worst case scenario. "I think he's trying to recreate the Frozen Forest, this time in our reality. An intermediary plane between life and death, beyond our understanding. If that's his goal, we can't let him take the remaining four, no matter what."

Leo wondered what happened to Mario. He had lived with Zyumen under his roof for almost a year now and never noticed the obvious tails. An obvious gorilla face and an unconcealed firearm would be harder to excuse though. "Hey, where's Mario anyway?" asked Leo. Shirou flinched, like he was trying to hide something. "That's not-" he started. "Hahaha! You see, Zyuoh Raven came out of the study and Shirou put a tranq in him. Except it was actually Mario wearing a raven head sculpt!" said Larry. Leo checked the study to find Mario unconscious in his chair. "Oh man, that's an epic fail!" he mocked. Shirou failed to hide his embarrassment.

Misao was sitting in a corner the whole time silently staring at the ground. "This is all my fault." he spoke finally. "I got depressed for a stupid reason again and now Yamato is missing. And we have to lie to Mario, hide the fact he was taken captive, like the time I was taken captive by Ginis. I'm the worst!" Leo approached him, frustrated with his self loathing attitude. "Then do something about it, punk. Help us save him. You may be unreliable but you're still the strongest guy I know so just suck it up!" Leo's harsh pep talk knocked some sense in to Misao, made him realize that sitting there moping wouldn't make his friend come back. He needed to take action. "You're right, even if you are mean about it. Let's do this." said Misao now standing with everyone else.

"You can't." said Shirou. Everyone turned to face him expecting some justification. "Don't look at me like that. You know he's using Yamato and Bud as leverage to get what he wants. In the military, we have a motto: 'Forsake the few, save the many'." They didn't acknowledge that way of thinking at all. "Shirou, we're soldiers but not like you. We plan to save everyone so don't treat our comrades like expendable resources!" said Sela with her sharp tongue scolding him for even suggesting they abandon their allies. "Yeah, screw your sacrifice and hollow victory, you moron!" shouted Leo angrily.

Larry walked up to him and gave him a friendly nudge in the chest. "Perhaps you were too frank with them, amigo. They have their own way of doing things." he said. "Whatever, but count me out. If they fail, I will blow up the Link Cube." replied Shirou. Larry presented a feather to the motivated Misao, presumably one that fell from Zyuoh Raven during his ascent. "Misao, can you use your rhinos touch to sense his location?" Misao took the feather in hand. He felt an icy chill creep up his spine like the Reaper's finger, starting at the base and climbing slowly towards the neck. It never reached that high though, as Misao's survival instinct kicked in to spare him the torture. Acting on this most basic stimulus, he dropped the feather. "Are you okay?" asked Sela standing by his side concerned. "Yeah, it's just so cold. It feels wrong. I don't want to touch it again!" he responded, shuddering uncontrollably. Sela's concern escalated after hearing the dread in his voice but she had to keep him focused on the objective. "I know this is hard for you, but it's necessary. Misao, do you know where he is?" she asked. Misao nodded affirmatively. He took point and they followed him outside, in to the woods. Sela and Shirou were the last to leave the house.

"I respect that you're trying to help, Shirou, but I refuse to lose anyone else. We're definitely going to save our friends." said Sela. Her attempt to maintain an amicable camaraderie with him was in vain. "You better be prepared to accept the consequences of your decision." he responded coldly. Sela snapped at him, momentarily reverting to her Zyuman form. Not wanting to vex her further, Shirou decided to give her some space to cool off. Sela changed back and remembered she had more important issues to worry about. There was her team to consider. They needed her. Yamato and Bud as well. But she couldn't ignore that something was wrong with the Black Ops soldier, like he was missing a piece of himself, lacking emotion. What did he see in the field that made him this way, she wondered.

Mario came out of his room to surprise them with his head sculpt. "Hey guys, check it out-" Everyone was gone, just as the effect of the tranq had worn off. "Why do they up and leave all the time?" he asked rhetorically.

Meanwhile:

"Nalia, who is this new Zyuohger?" asked Ginis upon his throne on the Sagittariark as he watched the new strongest dark ranger lay waste to his opponents on the monitor. "Not someone you should affiliate with, Master Ginis. Remember what happened with Vangley." responded Nalia. "Ginis, let me send a player to take care of him. It'll be easy!" said Azald. "No, allow me. I have a foolproof plan to turn this in our favor." said Cubal which provoked a suspicious glare from immortal contender Azald. A moeba handed Ginis a glass of red wine on a silver tray. "For now, we spectate. This could be entertaining." said Ginis sipping the alcoholic beverage. Azald slammed his block shaped fist on the counter disappointed about missing some of the action. It couldn't be helped. As long as Ginis was amused, there was no need to resume the Blood Game. He eagerly anticipated the next confrontation while Cubal secretly plotted his next move.

Back on the surface, Shirou was taking a moment alone. He looked at a picture of him, Jun and another woman after they graduated from cadets. They were smiling and Jun was giving a peace gesture. "Those kids are going to learn about sacrifice the hard way." said Shirou. He put the picture away in his jacket.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

My original draft featured Larry in a much smaller role. That changed when Ishizuka Unsho, his VA, died earlier this year. In his memory, I decided to give Larry more important scenes.

Next time, the ransom! I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 3 coming soon, maybe sooner. Look forward to it!


	3. Ransomed Rangers

Hey everybody! That's right, I did it. I uploaded it early. If you were disappointed by the absence of violence in the previous chapter, this should hopefully be a consolation to you.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Ransomed Rangers**

"Welcome back to reality, bird man."

Bud bestirred himself. He tried to move but his body was all chained up in titanium alloy. On his right was Yamato in the same condition, still unconscious from the wounds he received. Due to the loss of his Zyuoh Changer Final, he had reverted to his true form. They were on some kind of mountain like the one where they found the Bear Zyuoh Cube. "Don't try to escape. This is your front row seat." said Zyuoh Raven, walking in to the spotlight. "You have the privilege of seeing the Frozen Forest consume your world." Bud continued to struggle in his confinements. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. "I thought you would understand, bird man. You hate Zyuland. You hate the government for condemning your friend. This place is no different. Discrimination, conflict and death are a plague on both worlds. When all that remains is my Frozen Forest, the harmony you desire will be yours." responded Raven. Bud refused to acknowledge his twisted ideals. A world devoid of life, devoid of purpose. "I don't want that! You have to stop this before it's too late!" he pleaded. Raven became vexed by his resistance. "Shut up! I won't stop until my purpose is fulfilled. Since the dawn of civilization, everyone wanted a cure for death. Well guess what, dummy, I am the cure!" He ended the lecture by punching Bud in the face. Several times. Bud gritted his teeth and endured the beating. "Beg for mercy!" he demanded. Bud remained stoic and refused to give in. Every bruise made him more defiant.

"Let our friends go!" called a voice. Raven turned his attention to the source, Sela, who was standing with Leo, Tusk, Amu and Misao. "I'm glad you came. You know the condition, give me the credentials." demanded Raven in exchange for their freedom. "No, don't listen to him!" said Bud. Raven punched him in the face once more. "Shut up! Don't make me repeat myself!" They watched with anguish as he callously beat Bud. "Credentials. Now!" he demanded again with an angrier tone than before.

Shirou was at the Link Cube site with Larry, watching the confrontation through a drone feed. The Link Cube was covered in C4 ready to blow at the press of a button.

Sela, Leo, Tusk and Amu hesitantly looked at their Zyuoh Changers before tossing them to Bud's torturer. He laughed sadistically at their helplessness. At the price of the planet, they bought a few insignificant minutes of freedom for their captive friends. "It's not over yet." said Tusk. Raven stopped laughing. Even now, they wouldn't give him the satisfaction he craved, they were too persistent. "What could you mean?" he asked sternly. Misao took the center stage and confronted him alone. "He means me." Raven giggled once more mocking their last resort. "Oh right, the odd one out. The one I swatted like a fly." he taunted. Leo was provoked. "Hey man, not cool! I have a second cousin who's a fly, you know!" Raven facepalmed. "Don't take my analogy literally, damn you!"

Misao took out his Zyuoh The Light. "I won't go so easy on you this time. You hurt my friends, now you'll pay!" he said resolutely as he turned the cube to the rhinos picture on the flashlight.

"Rhinos!"

He pressed the button against his thigh completing the Morphin' sequence. "Honno Kakusei!" he called while his suit materialized from the spinning gold and silver cube of light.

"Champion of the World, Zyuoh The World!" "Champion of the Death, Zyuoh Raven!"

The showdown between the two strongest dark rangers in history was about to start! Zyuoh The World Rhinos Form charged at him like before but this time he attacked behind him so that Raven couldn't flank. Raven accounted for his opponent's change of tactics and teleported to the sky. He swooped down and tried to cut him with his razor edge wings but The World dodged with a barrel roll. Raven started shooting eye lazers and chasing him through the nearby quarry. The World jumped to cover behind a boulder and subdued his lower body with the reel of his Zyuoh The GunRod. Raven couldn't split while he was ensnared in the wire, like a baited fish on a hook. So he flew for the forest tagging The World with him. He gracefully maneuvered the narrow gaps between the thick trees and branches smacking The World behind him. The momentum from the flight caused The World to slam in to a large pillar of stone and the damaged trees collapsed around him, freeing Raven from the reel in the process. He landed on the ground and turned his back on the debris. "Too bad." he taunted.

"Yasei Dai Kaihou!"

The World busted out of the felled wood and shrubbery with his rhinos shoulder spikes, wolf claw and crocodile tail arm. "You're becoming quite the nuisance." said Raven. "I told you, I'm going to make you pay!" said The World. He swiped him vertically upwards with the crocodile tail, causing him to land on the mountain where the now powerless Zyuohgers were watching. Bud was leaning on Leo's shoulder for support and Amu was taking the weight of Yamato's unconscious body. The Zyumen had assumed their natural forms as a result of relinquishing their Zyuoh Changers. Raven used his wings to steady his landing only for The World to appear and hit him with the wolf claw. "World The Crash!" he called, charging through him with the rhinos shoulder spikes. Amazingly, Raven was still undefeated. Staggered nonetheless. He stood up and The World caught him in a lock to prevent him from moving. "Sela, Tusk! Do it now!" Tusk opened the Whale Change Gun and started to pump up the energy inside. Sela grabbed his waist to take the burden of the strong recoil that only Zyuoh Whale could handle alone. The finisher would only be perfect when five Zyuohgers wielded it together.

"Zyuoh Final!" it announced.

Tusk fired the unstable torrent of energy forcing them backwards. Sela steeled her feet firmly on the ground to maintain control of the blast and stop Tusk from getting overwhelmed by the incredibly strong kinetic force like a sledgehammer. The torrent curved and twisted every which way out of line until it eventually homed in on the target. Raven made no effort to escape and took the full force of the Zyuman King's power. There was a colossal explosion from the impact knocking The World out of the way and out of his suit. "Is this a trick?" asked Sela, wondering if it was safe to assume they succeeded. "I don't think so. Explosion means we hit something and Misao was only affected by the shockwave." said Tusk. "The world ends for you." said Misao indulging in his moment of victory.

"See Shirou, I told you they could do it!" said Larry. However, Shirou wasn't celebrating. He was still watching the drone feed unconvinced he was really dead. Then his suspicion was confirmed when he witnessed an abnormality.

Suddenly, Misao's body was overcome with excruciating pain and he tumbled over! "Misao!" called Sela as she rushed to his side. Cold sweat poured from his skin. There was a feather lodged in his chest and it was killing him. He was dying. He could feel the embrace of the Frozen Forest consuming his mind, trying to rip it from his perishing mortal form. "We can't let him die!" said Amu. A tear dropped from her duct. "Tusk, can he be saved?" asked Sela. Tusk observed the wound. "It's fatal. I don't know what to do." he concluded. "No way!" shouted Leo, attempting to forcefully remove the quill from his abdomen. "Leo, stop! His skin is too sensitive, you'll only make it worse." said Tusk, restraining him. "So what, we just do nothing? Are you siding with that moron now?"

"Noooo!" said Larry. "I'm sorry for your loss." called a deep voice with sarcastic tone. Shirou and Larry looked to see Zyuoh Raven approaching the Link Cube. He had all six credentials. Shirou unsheathed his Kuda and aimed it at him. "How are you alive?" asked Larry, distraught and confounded. Raven laughed. "I am the Champion of the Death! As long as the Link Cube exists, I am unstoppable!"

It was the last resort. Blow it up. Shirou reached for his C4 detonator but it was missing. "Where the fudge is my detonator?" he asked. Larry was holding it instead. There were two buttons. A red one and a green one. One to trigger the explosion and one to disarm the bombs. "Whatever, just press the red button!" demanded Shirou. "I suggest you press the green button, unless you're okay with dooming your human friend." said Raven, giving him a second option.

"The fate of the world and The World is in my hands."

Larry couldn't take the heat. In the spur of the moment, he pressed the green button. "Dammit! Fudge!" shouted Shirou. He opened fire on Raven until the magazine was empty but the bullets were stopped by a force field. Raven teleported in front of him and retaliated by punching him in to the river. Blood seeped out from the fresh cuts on his face. Raven laughed harder and turned his attention to Larry who was petrified at what he just decided. "Congratulations, you are a savior to your friend. Not a monster like him." he said. Larry didn't even flinch. "Why so glum?" he asked. "Rejoice! Thanks to you, the Frozen Forest will be made anew." Larry wasn't buying his nonsense. "The only monster here is you and your Frozen Forest is nothing but an icy hell!"

He struck a nerve and Raven kicked him in to the river in the opposite direction. "You chose me. You chose this fate. This is all your doing, ape man, so you better deal with it." said Raven. They were too hurt to fight him. They weren't chosen by the Earth. He extracted the credentials from his body and placed them in the terminal. It sucked him in and used his collective neural data as a template for the structure of the planet. His image spread to the core and the blue Earth rebuilt itself from the inside out, 'correcting' itself according to the new template, corrupting itself. Like a computer reprogrammed to believe viruses are good and normal. He did something that shouldn't have been possible. He brainwashed a goddamn planet!

"I'm alive!" said Misao. The others were relieved. "You sure had us worried." said Sela. "Uh guys, I hate to interrupt this touching moment but where are our Zyuoh Changers?" asked Tusk. Amu looked over and he was right, they were missing. Now a fatally wounded Misao was alive and well like nothing had happened. "This was a distraction." she said. "He knew we would be more concerned with our friend's life than protecting the Link Cube." Their hearts were filled with regret. "We failed as guardians. All of us. No."

Sela clenched fer fist angry at herself for playing his ignorant puppet. She saw a blinding white light consume the woods where the Link Cube was, expanding wider and faster, exponentially. The bad guy was victorious and she blamed herself. They all did. Soon, the light spread to them and all of Japan. Eventually nothing remained of its original state. They lost consciousness and the place where they would awake would be a different realm.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Next time, the heroes will have tough times ahead. Is it too late? I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 4 coming this Friday/Saturday. See you then!


	4. Cold Reception

Hey everybody! Here's a new chapter continuing from the heroes' major defeat.

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Cold Reception**

Shirou opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ethereal environment of thick snow-covered branches with thorns. He looked for Larry, the Link Cube and that monster of malice but could not find them anywhere. Instead, he found Sela sleeping in the snow, the girl he begrudged and blamed for this disaster. He nudged her awake gently with his boot. "Wake the hell up." he ordered. Had their emotions been as numbed as his, he was so certain they could have avoided this outcome. This was the reality now and he wanted her to know how badly they screwed up.

"This can't be happening." she said upon seeing what had become of the planet. "Well it ain't no damn dream. This is all your fault you know." replied Shirou. Sela glared at him, she was on the brink of snapping. Even at a time like this, he was still bitterly pointing the finger at her in a 'told ya so' manner. She knew she screwed up, everyone screwed up and she wanted to make it right again. As she was about to return the scolding, they were both silenced by rustling in the brushes, prompting them to assume a back-to-back formation. Then, a pair of silhoutted humanoids appeared opposite each other.

Fortunately, there was no immediate danger as those silhouettes belonged to their allies, Tusk and Misao. The two in false alarm were eager to reclaim their personal spaces. "Hey guys, are the others with you?" asked Sela. Tusk sighed, dispondantly. "No, we can't find them. They must have been separated from us by these trees." Shirou punched a nearby tree in anger. "Dammit, this is all Larry's fault!"

"Hey, make up your mind." said Sela, scolding him for blaming everyone except for himself. Misao fell to his knees and started to sulk. "No, this is my fault." Sela facepalmed. This was getting ridiculous. "The operation failed, because I was careless!" he continued. "It would've succeeded if Shirou was actually helping instead of standing guard by the Link Cube." said Tusk. "Oh, so now it's my fault huh?!" asked Shirou. "All of you zip it!" shouted Sela. They turned their attention to her. "Yeah okay, I get it. We're all responsible but arguing like this isn't going to make it better." They acknowledged her wisdom and called a truce. "Right now, we need to find a way out of this labyrinth, find the rest of our team, anyone."

"KYUINKYUINKYUIN"

"What was that?" asked Sela. "I don't know what-" started Tusk. "I heard some kind of pulse like a distress signal." They couldn't hear it. As a shark woman, Sela had an incredible sense of hearing that was way more advanced than they were capable of perceiving. She could listen to all kinds of sounds, even the faintest whisper. Or in this case, an enigmatic pulse. "Hmmm, I bet if we followed it, we could get out." said Tusk. It was the only hope they had of escaping the maze of wood. Maybe it would lead them out, maybe not. Who knew? They would find out eventually.

Sela followed the sound of the voice as she led her allies through a maze of shrubbery and ice and rock. Every path ended at a junction and it was a seemingly infinite cycle that defied conventional physics and warped space. All they had to rely on, to realize some degree of progression, was this barely audible noise that only she was capable of hearing. Ten minutes later, they stopped at another junction with a shrub containing two Zyuoh Changers. "Our Zyuoh Changers!" said Sela, eager to retrieve them until Tusk stopped her. "Be careful, they could be a trap!" he warned her. "It's a risk, I know, but we have to try. We can't morph and Shirou lost his gun." said Sela. There was an anomaly, Misao, who still possessed his Zyuoh The Light. Yet there were two in the shrub out of six in total. They were all regular versions so Bud presumably would be okay if he found his special version but either Yamato, Leo or Amu somewhere in the Frozen Forest would be rendered unable to morph until the last one was found.

Cautiously, Sela and Tusk grabbed their Zyuoh Changers and regained their human disguises while Misao held on to his unique flashlight Morpher. That was when they felt the crackling of thin ice quake and break apart as the maze shifted. The endless paths and circles were gone and in came a fresh new terrain with an abundance of rock and pillars for cover from enemy fire in a long open valley that heralded the final exit to the dark dungeon at its end. It was obvious that a fight was about to take place here, the perfect stage for a burning hot shootout. Too bad the party's gunman was without his gun, they would have to rely on the Zyuohgers' firearm expertise in the likely event that they were flanked. "We may have to be prepared to defend ourselves." said Tusk.

Shirou casually unsheathed a KN-44 assault rifle. "What the fudge!" exclaimed Misao. "Where did you get that?" asked Sela. This weapon, which was concealed somewhere on his body, traded the faster fire rate of his other gun for higher accuracy. The magazine capacity was equal. They were surprised since he never mentioned carrying a second primary weapon and there was no visible storage for it on his body. "I got the overkill wildcard." explained Shirou. The overkill wildcard allowed soldiers, augmented or not, Black Ops or otherwise, to carry a second primary weapon in the secondary weapon slot. This replaced a pistol or launcher that would typically occupy that space. "I also got perk 3 greed, yeah my loadout's pretty OP." he added. However, the Zyuohgers were lacking the savvy they needed to understand his terminology. "Uh huh, OP." said Tusk, pretending to follow. They simply shrugged off their confusion and moved on, accepting they were better off for having another skilled shooter on their side.

"Tusk and I will take the front with our short-range Zyuoh Busters while you guys draw aggro from the high ground with your mid range assault rifle and Zyuoh The GunRod." said Sela, addressing Misao and Shirou. The pre-emptive battle strategy was decided. Sela and Tusk advanced down the steps through the valley, keeping their eyes on the blind spots and any places where bad guys could be hiding. Misao and Shirou stuck to the plan and took cover behind sandbags at the start with an ELO scope watching their allies and the surrounding area. Predictably, as soon as the two Zyumen reached the halfway point, they were ambushed by a pack of alien Moebas. Sela dashed for a small dilapidated bunker and Tusk crouched to the prone position in a small incline obscured by mist. Shirou started firing at the hostiles behind the cover.

"Shark!" "Elephant!" "Wolf!"

They rotated their Zyuoh Changers to complete the change picture and Misao pressed the button on the end of the grip against his thigh. "Honno Kakusei!" Spinning cubes of light summoned their Zyuman Power while a heart pounding battle cry sounded in the background.

Zyuoh The World Wolf Form used his enhanced sense to quickly locate and eliminate targets out in the open with his Zyuoh The GunRod in gun mode. Shark fired her Zyuoh Buster at enemies advancing on her position, defeating them when they peered out of cover. Elephant's trench was flanked and he dispatched the invaders with his Zyuoh Buster in sword mode before running for different ground. "Throwing sensor grenade!" said Shirou as he tossed a metallic ball in to the battleground. With a bang, it emitted a thermal pulse, revealing hidden enemies nearby. Shark noticed a highlighted enemy attempting to infiltrate the bunker through a trench that ran beneath it. The monster's flank was met with crushing failure as Shark shot him in the face. When she returned her attention to the other hostiles, they had already started advancing towards the front and back entrances. Fortunately, Elephant appeared at the side and engaged them in combat, allowing Shark to focus completely on the other door. She hid in a corner and waited for them to enter and slashed them all with nimble reflexes. The two Zyumen regrouped inside the bunker.

"Did we get them all?" asked Shark. "These were just the vanguards, there'll be more. Count on it." said Elephant.

Shirou analysed the battleground like an eagle would scout for its prey, making absolutely sure the immediate threat was gone. He had doubts. Misao was the same, he didn't want to let his guard down again after what happened to him last time. Shark and Elephant had cleared one zone out of the huge valley they were in. Like sitting ducks in a barrel waiting for the hunters to come out and kill them. They could've been hiding anywhere and their resources were limited. No more sensor grenades, they would have to watch their backs.

"What were those Moebas doing here?" asked The World rhetorically. He wasn't expecting Shirou to actually have an answer. "Opportunists." he replied. The World looked at him, it wasn't obvious through the mask, but he was curious. Just how much did Shirou know and how much was he telling them? "This planet is in a state of chaos. I'd bet one of your alien friends is taking advantage, trying to win the Blood Game." he clarified. "Then we're facing bad guys from two sides." said The World. "I used to be a bad guy y'know, that was before I met _them_ and made my first friends." Then he had another revelation. "Maybe he's not so evil after all. If we can convince him there's another way, he might change." Shirou dismissed the idea. "He's trying to murder us, we should reciprocate. Friendship isn't going to solve all your problems!"

Shirou aimed through the sight once more and caught a glimpse of a familiar woman. From afar, he could barely identify her but he knew who she was, he couldn't forget that face, the girl in the his picture. He saw the target from his last mission with Jun. He put a bullet in her skull that day, a nice clean quick tap, but now he witnessed her alive and standing like this bleak world was playing a trick on his mind. She smiled at him and he realized that he wasn't the only one who noticed. Was she here to kill him in vengeance? As the woman disappeared in to a cave, Shirou left his post without a second thought and chased her through the valley, alerting other Moebas in the vicinity. He was determined to tie up this loose end that was back to haunt him.

"Hey, don't leave me!" said The World. He was tempted to follow him but he stayed his ground to keep his allies safe from harm.

In the bunker, Shark and Elephant saw muzzle flashes in the distance. "What are they shooting at?" asked Shark. "Somebody who needs our help." said Elephant. Shark examined the secret door connecting the bunker to the trench, maybe she could use it to sneak past them undetected. "I'll take this tunnel and see where it leads, you stick to the surface and cause a diversion." she said. "Splitting up is seldom a good idea, but it's the best option we have right now." said Elephant, hesitantly agreeing to the plan. "Be careful." he warned, the trench dimly lit and making him concerned for her safety. "I'll try." she replied. It was a risk they had to take for the sake of their friends. And so Shark descended in to the trench alone and shut the door down behind her.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Next time, find out how the other guys are dealing with this. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 5 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	5. White Lies

Welcome back, everybody! I hope you guys all had an awesome Christmas. I sure did! ^_^ Here's my present to you and this takes 'White Christmas' to a whole new level. There's even 'White' in the title.

Happy reading!

* * *

 **White Lies**

"Hey, Yamato!"

Yamato was finally awake. His last memories were of fighting and falling and now all he could see was snow, thorns, rocks and the dark sky. He thought he had died and moved on to the after plane. Until he saw Amu sitting next to him. If he were dead then she was the same and he didn't want to believe that. They were alive, but this was not the same plane. Was this even the same planet anymore? "Thank goodness, you're okay." said Amu. "Hardly. Amu, you're going to need to fill me in here." he said, looking for answers.

"This is Earth. He changed it." said Amu. "You mean he did all this, while I was out?" asked Yamato. "I'm afraid so. We failed to protect the Link Cube. He got all our credentials and used his power to warp everything." said Amu. It was the worst case scenario. Someone messed with this planet and they succeeded. Yamato was crushed by the sensation of total failure. In the end, he couldn't do anything to stop it. He felt useless. "I know how you feel, it's a lot to take in. None of us know what to do." said Amu. "Sela and the others are here as well?" asked Yamato. "No, not all of us. Just Leo, Bud, Larry and I." said Amu. She handed him a carton of apple juice with a straw. "Here, you should drink this and recover your strength." Once he was finished processing the tidal wave of information, he noticed his thirst and gratefully accepted the drink. He also noticed Amu was still in her Zyuman form, which meant their Zyuoh Changers were probably still missing. He checked his pocket and confirmed his presumption.

Then Leo came running up the hill towards them. His appearance was human. "Hey, look what I just- Oh hey, Yamato, you're up!" Amu was surprised when he showed her two Zyuoh Changers. But only two. "Nice find, Leo. But what are we going to do about, you know." said Amu. Leo scratched his head in frustration. It seemed there was more to the problem than a shortage of resources. "What?" asked Yamato, out of the loop. "Well you see, we're not exactly sure if you _can_ morph right now." said Leo cryptically. "Of course I can morph, duh. I have Zyuman Power from Bud and Larry." said Yamato.

After Leo came Bud in his human disguise carrying his Zyuoh Changer Final. He looked different though. His hair was now a youthful shade of black. "Bud! You look different!" said Yamato, surprised to see him as he was before. "I think the transfer has been reversed." said Bud. "Then I don't have any Zyuman Power after all." lamented Yamato. "Hold out your hand, I'll redo it." said Bud. Yamato refused the offer, the circumstances weren't the same. He wasn't injured anymore, strangely, and he didn't want to take someone's life force. "No, your life is more important!" Bud made no attempt to change his mind. It was a controversial topic and besides, Amu was a perfectly adequate combatant. Leo gave her the salvaged Zyuoh Changer.

Finally arrived Larry almost as young as Bud except in Zyuman form since he wasn't part of the chosen six. He was holding Shirou's Kuda. "Larry, you found Shirou's weapon!" said Amu. "Who?" asked Yamato. "Some punk friend of Larry's who works for Black Ops. He also mentioned Coal-something, DNIs and nerd stuff. There's a lot to summarize." said Leo. "Coalescence." corrected Bud. They were surprised to hear Bud knew about the company since he was also absent for that expository discussion. "Bud is affiliated as well." said Larry in monotone. The cost of saving Misao had taken a toll on his conscience. "I, uh, I helped design the Corvus program." said Bud.

"You what?!" said Leo.

It was one mindblow after another. "I never intended any of this, they corrupted everything, turned it in to something malicious, a secret weapon of diabolical proportions." said Bud, regretting his mistake. "So you told him he was a mistake?" asked Amu. "Of cour-" started Bud, before he realized his error. He never considered that Corvus would be offended. To many, Corvus was just a program, when in fact he was a complex sapient artificial intelligence with the mental engrams of those whose DNIs he lived in. Emotionally and psychologically, he was just as human as his hosts and he took offence to hear that his existence amounted to nothing in the eyes of his parents. "I'm no better than the government." said Bud, recalling Zyuland's unethical treatment of human trespassers. "You acknowledge your wrongdoing, that already makes you better. Now you just have to help put it right again." said Amu, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I don't trust him to help us do a single goddamn thing!" said Leo. "Well, unless you're a qualified neuroscientist as well, which I doubt, Bud's the only person who knows what to do. Faith in our comrades is necessary if we're going to restore this planet." said Yamato.

Easier said than done.

After Yamato was recovered, they followed a river out of the woods and arrived at what appeared to be a small village. There were small brick houses, wooden food stalls and the remains of a Buddhist shrine. All covered by a blanket of solidified precipitation. "Look, homosapiens!" said Yamato, pointing out the humans populating the damaged village. However, there was something strange about them. They were acting normal, which under normal circumstances would be normal, but this was clearly not normal. Talking, playing and relaxing like nothing happened. "Hey, shouldn't these guys be more, y'know, panicking and freaking out?" asked Leo.

Amu approached a young woman. "Hello, can you explain what's going on here?" she asked. "Imagine yourself in a Frozen Forest. You're standing in a clearing. Trees around you so tall, they touch the sky. Pure white snowflakes fall all around." replied the woman in a happy monotone. Amu was confused and confounded. The bystander provided no clarity to the situation. "Uh huh, perhaps you could tell me something I don't know about?" asked Amu pushing for a useful response. "You can feel them melt on your skin. You are not cold. It cannot overcome the warmth of your beating heart. Can you hear it? You only have to listen." replied the abnormally cheerful woman once more. Amu was disturbed by the overly detailed 'explanation' and walked away slowly.

"Call it an understatement but these people aren't right." said Amu to her friends. "What do you mean by that?" asked Yamato. "She couldn't stop rambling about the Frozen Forest and how tall the trees are. Like she was possessed." Bud feared the worst. "They're entranced. This is his idea of 'life' in this place, he stole their negative emotions so they wouldn't realize how screwed they are." he explained. Their contentment was fake, they weren't living anymore, rather they were just there, a hollow existence. Without natural death, it would last eternally, no means of escape, not even for disembodied souls. Denizens compelled to think nothing but the post augmentation trauma therapy on an infinite loop, chanting it over and over again, their true feelings and horror subdued by the false comfort.

Suddenly their new most hated enemy appeared out of nowhere. "So, what do you think of my Frozen Forest?" he asked. "Raven!" shouted Yamato. He chuckled. "Isn't it great?" The party stared at him furiously. "Bird and Gorilla have their youth back, I returned what you stole from them." he continued, pointing at Yamato. "I also returned what I stole from you, aren't I kind?" Yamato raised an eyebrow.

"You're deluded." said Bud. Raven sneered at him. "No, I'm your messiah!" Bud shook his head. "Shut up and listen. This ain't life, this is fantasy. I don't want my youth back if it means people have to suffer for it." Raven clenched his fist as he struggled to understand what he just heard. "Very well, if you don't appreciate your life, the life I gave you, then I'll gladly take it back." Leo and Amu stood beside Bud while Larry pointed the gun he found at Raven. Yamato was shocked as he watched the talk quickly escalate in to a fight. "Say that again, you little punk!" said Leo. "We won't let you mess with people's lives!" said Amu.

"Lion!" "Tiger!" "Bird!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Zyuoh Bird used his special Eaglizer sword against Raven in their Round 2 while Lion and Tiger backed him up with their Zyuoh Buster swords. Raven predicted their attacks and dodged swiftly before launching a shattering wave in retaliation. The heroes rolled out of the way and Raven took flight, they would have to watch their backs as she hid in the darkness of the trees and swamp. Larry was camping behind a tree by the river, waiting for an opportunity to create a diversion while Yamato was away from the battle keeping the civilians safe from harm.

Bird awakened his instincts with "Yasei Kaihou!" and scouted the skies leaving Lion and Tiger to patrol the ground. The trees were swarmed by ravens giving the namesake villain extra eyes on his prey. Lion and Tiger were standing back-to-back and the cold eyes of those black birds were making feel paranoid. There was no escape from his view. Bird with his enhanced sight spotted the target starting to converge in a shade of ivy brush and shouted "Strike 9.00!" alerting his allies. They were facing opposite directions so the 9.00 signal caused them both to attack on their left ensuring a 360 degree hit circle that whacked Zyuoh Raven away. He attempted to fly again but Larry peered out of his cover and surprised him with a volley of hot bullets. "Larry, nice!" called Lion congratulating his friend, hoping it would raise his spirits. Larry looked at his hands holding the gun, the same hands that doomed them, used for justice. He felt a renewed sense of purpose and reloaded the magazine in preparation for the next encounter.

Raven picked himself up and dusted the shells off his body. "I underestimated you guys. Time to turn up the heat!" He split and the uncombined mass of birds scattered in different ways. He was going to try another approach. Bird followed one of the swarms through the misty branches but he was flanked by another from his left side. The two came together and Zyuoh Raven propelled him to the ground. "Birds of a feather, they say. I'm a bird of many feathers!" he taunted. Lion charged at him and struck him with his sword. Raven grabbed the blade like that time he fought Eagle. "If you're going to make a lame joke, I'll make you regret it!" shouted Lion, before striking through his target with more force.

"Bird, catapult me with your stretchy sword." said Tiger. Bird lassoed the blade of his sword to a tree and anchored himself to another tree holding the grip. It was a metal slingshot! Tiger pounced in to the blunt face of the elastic blade suspended between them and rebounded towards Raven at high speed and increasing velocity staggering him with a painful mid air slash. Lion and Tiger grabbed his legs firmly to stop him from escaping so Bird could perform the finisher. "This'll clip those feathers!" taunted Bird, retracting his blade and lassoing him in the chest. "Lizer Spinning Slash!" He retracted it again causing the blade parts to serrate him.

"I'll get you next time, bird man. Until then, keep a close eye on your friends!" said Raven, clutching his splintered chest before exploding.

Yamato, Leo, Amu, Bud and Larry regrouped in the center of the village. "He's destroyed, but he'll come back." said Bud. "Yeah, no kidding! How do we fight an enemy like that?!" asked Leo, reminding them of their grim situation. "We can't." said Yamato. Amu looked at him sorrowfully. "It doesn't matter how many times we beat him, nothing will change." he continued. Bud felt the same. Without the original template, there was no way back. However they still had something they needed to do. "I can't fix this. Not yet. And not by myself. So we find the others and keep on fighting until we know how to fix this!" said Bud. Yamato nodded. Even after falling from the sky and losing his powers, he was still persistent as always. "Yeah!" said Amu in agreement. "This is my responsibility, I'm not giving up until then, so please stick with me, guys!" said Bud.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Next time, the outcome of the valley battle. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 6 coming 2019. See you in the new year!


	6. Sanity's Edge

Hey everybody! Sorry for the delay. Here's a new chapter for your Happy New Year.

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Sanity's Edge**

Shark squeezed cautiously through the barely illuminated and narrow trench. She didn't know where this excavated passage would take her and she didn't want to risk tripping as it would slow her down. Her sensitive ears were picking up various creepy noises, reverberating off the craggy walls. Crawling, hissing, gnawing. She paid them no attention. There was only one sound she wanted to focus on, the one that led them to this infested valley. Even now she could hear it, beneath the rock and dirt, feel it vibrating through, louder and heavier.

"KYUINKYUINKYUIN"

There it was again, the mysterious pulse. She followed it, hoping it would guide her to the other side of the valley, past the Moeba territory. "This place has a human touch. It's strange." she said to herself, making an observation about the new scenery. She expected something of Zyuland origin to appear more like Zyuland with its majestic structures. Instead, it was like a warzone. Not just a recreation of some cinematic action setting either. No, this seemed authentic, like it was drawn upon by memory.

Elephant was on the ground pursuing the commotion directly. Opportunities for stealthy takedowns were ripe in the center as the Moebas were all guns blazing at Shirou, who was in immediate danger. Their stronghold was a tall complex of steel buildings heavily fortified with barricaded mounted turrets completely neglected by those strategically lacking Moebas.

Before infiltrating the rear entrance, Elephant noticed the man they were desperately attacking. It was not who he expected. "It's Shirou, that guy!" said Elephant accidentally provoking some Moebas in earshot. He would have to take care of them with haste.

Oh right, Shirou. After all his talk of protocol, he abandoned The World in the middle of a gunfight to chase after his ally turned enemy. He thought her deceased, by his hands, until now. She was back from the grave and with her, those painful feelings about that time. The last mission he shared with Jun. But why did he feel so strongly about her, their mark? Were they feelings of resentment for her betrayal, or loss for another person he grew attached to?

He ran through the uneven gunfight like a madman, shrugging off the dents to his bulletproof vest and maintaining the momentum as he strafed quickly and predictably between cover until eventually, a critical hit landed. He was grazed. Not seriously injured or fatally wounded, but enough to slow him down for a bit. A Moeba on its own isn't that strong, however there's undeniable power in great numbers.

Elephant faced five enemies. One of them revved up the turret while the others attacked directly. A splash of rapid bullets laid waste to the barren ground where he fought them, the aim slightly off. He held his Zyuoh Buster around the neck of one creating a meat shield that he soon discarded as it became full of holes. Another he took out with a quick passing slash. Another he kicked in to a support beam, causing the unstable platform to crash on the fourth leaving the turret unmounted. Elephant tested it out on the last of their platoon and effortlessly decimated them before proceeding through an alternative route, knowing that even mildly intelligent Moebas would be alerted by the environmental wreck.

Between the demolition and the duck hunt, their attention was diverted, allowing Shirou time to catch his breath, patch up his wound and continue his persistent rush towards his destination. Eventually they gave up on him and focused all their ammunition on the intruder who was causing a serious amount of devastation to their laboriously constructed fortifications. Elephant was in the heart and sights of the ambush and there were too many of them for him to handle alone. Shirou was no help in his state of mind, running amok the way he did, and The World's sniping skills would be of no service right now with all the debris and wall surrounding them.

Elephant looked up towards the opposition standing on the high ground with their weapons aimed at him. A Moeba primed his rocket launcher and fired it. The explosive projectile flew towards him with the powers of aerodynamics and gravity. He froze, unable to think of a way to evade his defeat. Then suddenly, he was no longer alone. A reel lassoed around the rear end of the rocket, stopping it in mid-air with the front only mere inches away from its target. "Don't mess with my friend! You'll regret it!" It was Zyuoh The World Rhinos Form. He was using his incredible super strength to keep it from crashing and exploding. He roared a fierce battle cry and reversed it in their direction, causing the whole complex to start crumbling under the weak support. One of the Moebas that survived tried to salvage what little remained of their attack by striking The World from behind but instead he received a backwards elbow to the face knocking him down. "Misao, I knew I could count on you." said Elephant. "I'll always be there for you, when you need me." said The World.

They may have won the battle, but the war would carry on until the Frozen Forest ceased to be. There was no glory to be had in this nightmarish realm. Unbeknownst to them, Shirou reached the cave and delved inside. His way was lit with oil lamps on the walls and he could hear a river gushing beneath him. Another corner he turned and there he stood face-to-face with her at last, eager to confront the augmented terrorist. 'Confront' probably being a euphemism for something more violent.

"It really is you." said Shirou with an expression like he was seeing a ghost before him. "That's right, I'd like to repay you for liquefying my brain." she said. "How is this possible?" he asked. Nobody could survive a quick tap at point-blank range, it was the guaranteed way of rendering someone deceased. "I was resurrected, my body was rejuvenated." She tossed him a bloody bullet, it belonged to the Kuda he was missing. "Here's the shell to prove it." Shirou picked it up and crushed it in his fist. "That's crazy, you're crazy! The Frozen Forest doesn't work that way!" he said, trying to make sense of what was happening. "I enjoyed our time spent together, but it was never meant to last. This place will be your grave." she said. "Not until you go back to your grave and stay there, damn you!" he rebuked, pointing his gun at her. She put her hands up but the smile never left her face. As he approached, she stepped back until he was right where she wanted him. "I didn't want to do this. Not then. Not now." said Shirou. He hesitated to pull the trigger. The sound of the river became strangely hollow. "See ya around." she replied as a trap door opened beneath him, causing him to fall.

"You! This isn't part of the plan we agreed on." said Shark, surprised to see Shirou. "Save it!" he replied rudely. "Who's protecting Misao? Who's watching Tusk's back? Not you." she continued in vain. Shirou ignored her as he climbed out of the hole, while digging himself deeper in another. Upon his emergence to the surface, the ghost from the past was gone. "Fudge!" Shark emerged from the hole to interrogate him. "Hey, stop acting like a spoiled kid and start explaining." she demanded. "There was a river here before. I'm sure I heard it." he said, ignoring her once more. Shark wouldn't tolerate his rude dismissal. "You'll answer later for sure. For now, our allies need help." she said, leaving the cave. With no reason to dawdle, Shirou followed her to the last sight of action. He worried he was losing his mind, imagining things that didn't exist.

Fortunately, his absence from combat was inconsequential as the best friend platonic partners were unharmed and victorious. The party had regrouped in the center but their hearts were divided. The Zyuohgers demorphed and they had some questions for Shirou. These questions were so upfront, blunt and direct that there was no way he could evade them.

"Why did you abandon me?!" asked Misao. "Why did you jeopardize the plan?" asked Tusk. "Why are you such a hypocrite?" asked Sela.

"I'm sorry, okay?! I saw the terrorist from that day, who should've been dead, and I chased after her! It's this stupid forest, it's ruining everything, it's tormenting me! I apologize for breaking protocol but just leave me alone now! Imagine yourself in- no, no, shut up!" said Shirou in frustration. He was using all his will and body to resist the psychological effect of the Corvus program. He turned his back to them to hide his anguish. They were no longer angry at him, there was only pity and empathy for the suffering man. He was experiencing serious emotional trauma from his painful past and now the present he was marooned in.

"I forgive you. I have no idea what happened to you or how you feel but I want you to know, you're not alone. We can help you, however you need to stop pushing us away. You blame me, the forest, your history, you lie to yourself and those lies are consuming you. Let us help you now, it's not too late." said Sela extending a helping hand to him. Tusk and Misao gave a simultaneous thumbs up gesture to show their agreement. Shirou turned around to face them and saw their uplifting spirits as they offered their support willingly. He reached out for the warmth of the open hand before him. He wanted to accept their camaraderie and freedom from the feeling of loneliness.

But he didn't want to get tight with them. He declined, pulling away his hand.

"I appreciate your offer of friendship and I'm sorry for what I did, but I don't deserve what you guys have." Without a further word, he headed for the exit to the valley where Sela last heard the ominous noise. "I guess friendship can't solve all our problems." said Misao with a frown. They were disappointed in themselves for not realizing it sooner, not trying harder, even though it wasn't their fault. How could they save someone who didn't want to be saved? Despite their last efforts to redeem him, he still walked away, not out of spite but out of deep lingering thoughts hidden inside that wouldn't go away with a simple pep talk. Without reason to delay the journey to nowhere, they followed the anguished antihero to the exit, an entrance to somewhere else. No idea where exactly, no clear motive to keep moving. Something was better than nothing at all and right now they only had one direction to take. Forward.

From the high ground, his nemesis watched their squall and movement. "You'll have your chance eventually." called a voice behind her. It was Cubal of the Deathgalien leaders! "What then?" she asked. Cubal observed his memory clone gauntlet suspiciously. "Your future is not my concern." he said. "After I destroy him, I'll have nowhere to go, nothing to live for. So I disagree, you should be concerned." she said pointing her revolver at his face. "Your thirst for knowledge is attractive, Yuki. However, our alliance ends with the accomplishment of our intertwined objectives. If you wanted a future, you shouldn't have chosen anarchy over order." said Cubal as he started to walk away from her. She looked at Shirou, wondering, what would his elimination really accomplish? Coalescence had already screwed the planet with their haywire virus. All she had left was revenge, to an uncertain end. Yuki decided to trust her heart and seize the next opportunity to destroy Shirou.

Back to the party of four, after a sorrowful trek through the barren warzone, they reached a black steel gate. Beyond it, a graveyard of dead fortunate enough to have escaped this endless tomb with their early demise and more importantly, the source of the noise. "Whatever we're following, this is it up ahead." said Tusk. "Maybe it's a waste of time, maybe we're all doomed." said Shirou. "Unless you have doomsday plans, I suggest we check it out and find out once and for all." said Sela. They proceeded. A new area, new challenge, same goal.

"KYUINKYUINKYUIN"

The cemetery was spooky and chilling like a horror movie with zombies and ghosts. "This place creeps me out." said Misao. As they crept, they noticed the obelisks had their names. Like the words were weaved from their memories and used against them. Were they going to die here? Or were they already dead? They hastened their paces to get away from the sense of imminent death. Eventually, they found it, on the other side. The noise of a heartbeat, it was coming from the Link Cube! "Guys, it's the Link Cube!" said Sela. "We should be careful, Zyuoh Raven's core is inside there." said Tusk. "Why do you think it's pulsing like that?" asked Misao. "That, my friends, would be my doing." called a voice behind it surprising them. "I used it to amplify the frequency of my distress beacon, drawing you all here. Pretty smart for a guy who just came back from the dead, huh?"

Shirou recognized the voice. Its owner stepped out from the shadow of the Link Cube. He was a Black Ops soldier as well, albeit augmented. His face was clean shaven and he carried a KRM-262 shotgun. Welcoming the others, he gave them a casual salute. "Yo, 'sup, old pal." For once, it was not the foe they came to dread, but the friend someone came to miss.

"Jun!" called Shirou.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

And on that cliffhanger ending, I'm taking a break from writing next week. I think this story is making pretty good progress so far, but I'd really like to hear other people's opinions as well. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 7 in about a fortnight. Look forward to it!


	7. Another Anomaly

Hey everybody! My break from writing last week is now over, so welcome back to the story. This episode is the start of a new arc which introduces a very important OC.

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Another Anomaly**

Three hours had passed since they destroyed him for the second time. They ate, talked and rested. Now it was time to leave the village behind them. At the dilapidated Buddhist shrine, Yamato prayed for the courage and power to defeat their enemies and save the planet. They regrouped at the start of a path that led through mountains and deciduous trees. "Ready?" asked Yamato. Larry was standing a few yards back. "Um, Larry?" asked Amu. He shook his head. "I'm not a fighter like you guys, but with this gun, I can at least protect the people of this village." He decided to watch over them. If they would not protect themselves then he would. "Then this is where we part ways, amigo." said Bud, imitating his Spanishisms. They gave each other a fistbump of friendship. "Si!" said Larry. "Good luck, buddy!" called Leo. The party was now four and as they vanished over the hill, Larry waved and said "Hasta luego!"

They traveled on the highway which passed through the decaying woods ahead of them. Expecting ambushes, they found none. What they found, none of them expected. They heard the crying of a little girl.

In this realm where everyone was happy beyond reason, someone out there was unhappy. And that was odd. A sadness despite the metaphysical alteration. "We can't just ignore a kid in distress!" said Amu. The others nodded in agreement. They searched the shrubbery for the lone girl until Bud found her hiding in a brush. He was amazed to see her sad and scared like she should be under the circumstances. "There there." he said, futilely attempting to relieve her dread. "Guys, get over here!" he called. On his summon, they arrived with questions and words of kindness for her. "It's okay now, kid. Your big bros will keep you safe from the dangerous monsters." said Leo. She cried louder. "Fool, you made it worse." said Yamato.

She was about 8 years old and wearing a white hooded parka that covered her bald head.

"Do you have a name?" asked Amu. "I don't. I don't have a name." said the girl. Their eyebrows raised in bewilderment. "That's okay, it's not important right now. Anyway, your parents must be worried sick. Are they nearby?" asked Amu. "I don't have parents. I don't have anyone." said the girl. Although she wasn't enslaved to the system like the others, they could tell, something was wrong with her. "Bud, do you understand what's happening here?" asked Yamato, looking for a scientific explanation. Bud made a "hmmm" sound as he thought deeply about the scenario. "If her will was strong enough to resist the brainwashing, then it's possible that the influx of clashing neural signals rendered her in a traumatic state." he concluded. "In layman's terms?" asked Leo. "It means her mind may be broken." clarified Bud in the simplest way he could think of. Were the heroes in their adulthood the only ones hardened enough to shake off the effects completely?

"I do know one thing." said the girl. "The cube is missing. It calls to me. It wants to be found. I can't find it. Won't you help me find it?" she asked. 'Huh? A cube?!' they thought to themselves. "Hmmm." Intrigued by her description of the object's shape, the same shape of Yamato's missing Zyuoh Changer, they figured it was worth their time. Regardless, cube or not, they couldn't turn down a kid that needed their help. "Okay, Cubegirl, we'll find it. You will be safe with Yamato, he's an animal biologist." said Amu. Animal biology, the study of animals, a useful practice for surviving the wilderness. "That's right, I'm pretty smart." boasted Yamato. "You're a nerd." mocked Leo. "What he said, he's our friend who would never turn against us." she continued. "I think there was water where it got lost, maybe you should look in places like that." suggested Cubegirl. In mountains, there were natural phenomena, usually waterfalls, springs and rivers. Lots of regions to begin the search for the elusive object.

They decided to split up in order to cover more ground quickly. Snow and mountains were a natural habitat for arctic tiger people like Amu so she volunteered to scout the land closest to he summit, she could traverse it better than anyone else. Leo and Bud opted to stay on ground level and examine the trees and plants close to running water. Yamato investigated the waterfall down by the cave network with Cubegirl offering abstract directions.

Yamato stared at the colossal falls and the clear pure liquid that collected in the pool below with nutritious minerals from the rock. The longer he looked, the more distorted it appeared. He didn't know why. His instinctive response was to rub his eyes, thinking it was a loose lash or speck. "Big bro, are you okay?" asked the concerned Cubegirl. "Yeah, nothing serious." he said, shrugging it off. He reopened them and his vision readjusted. "Any luck?" he asked. "No." she replied. "Me neither." he said.

Leo and Bud found the river which meandered around the cliffs and made more area to search. The lost cube could've been hiding in the vines or washed away by the current. Between them, up and down the bank, they explored both possibilities to no avail. "No good, this quadrant is a dead end." said Bud. "Hey cube punk! Come out here!" called Leo. "You waste your breath." said Bud in a deadpan tone. Leo shook his fist in frustration. If it wasn't straight and narrow, it was an annoyance. "Man, that sucks. Maybe Amu can find it."

Amu was already climbing the white peaks, persisting through the high altitude stormy winds blowing frozen precipitation in her hair. She could see the summit and steam emitting from the magma chamber. "Almost there." she said to herself reassuringly. With time and perseverance, she finally reached the top of the mountain. The highest point in the Frozen Forest. From its apex, a view of the strange shape the Earth had taken could be observed. She could see structures from Zyuland and foreign countries she remembered from Tusk's books. It wasn't obvious from below but this planet had become warped beyond recognition. Like her memories were overlapping with others to create this weird amalgamation of terrains. All dominated by the wrath of ice and despair. She could hear distant screams, twisted and mangled were these echoes of suffering, of people driven to insanity by their loss of emotion. "I vow to show you the error of your ways." she said. Despite what she saw, the chaos that Zyuoh Raven had brought upon them, she hadn't given up on redeeming him.

As expected, the steam revealed a hot spring, a dormant volcano boiling it. Hot enough to sear flesh and make s'mores out of anyone unlucky enough to fall in. If the cube was hidden in the spring, it would take a suit with crazy heat resistance to get it out.

"Tiger!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Zyuoh Tiger dived in to the cauldron. Through her suit, she could feel the edge of the flames flickering on the molten walls. "This heat is super intense!" said Tiger. Where everyone else failed, she succeeded, of course the most dangerous place was the right one. There it was in the heart of the chamber, the Zyuoh Changer reverted to its passive state. She would have to work mega fast in order to retrieve the cube from the floor before the suit reached its limit. Fighting through the inferno, she dived deeper and deeper and grasped the prize.

On her emergence, she demorphed and examined the Zyuoh Changer. Amu's hair was singed and smoking and sweat poured from her face. However the risk was worth the reward and her diligence was definitely not in vain. Now all that was left was to regroup with the others and complete the fetch quest that endangered her life.

"Oh hey, Amu, you did it!" said Leo, upon seeing her. Everyone was in the same place under the looming waterfall. "Wow. Much fast. So gratitude. You found the cube." said Cubegirl. Amu looked at Yamato, the chosen of the credential, and back at the little girl who claimed to be the owner. She didn't want to upset her but knew they would have to convince her to give it up. She handed her the Zyuoh Changer to appease her and the rest kind of just happened. Cubegirl listened to the voice inside it, an unknown will, that told her Yamato needed it more than she did. "It says I should let you take it." she said, looking at Yamato. "Are you sure it's okay?" he asked, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "I trust the cube. Please, take it." she replied. He smiled and accepted it gratefully.

What happened next was bad. Like, really bad.

His body surged with black energy and feathers and his eyes started to glow crimson red. Everyone else stood back in fear and surprise. "Yamato!" called Amu. Cubegirl's expression was nothing less than raw terror. Their friend was no longer himself. "Haha, didn't I warn you to keep a close eye on your friends?!" Those familiar words came from his mouth. Bud had a flashback to episode 5.

"I'll get you next time, bird man. Until then, keep a close eye on your friends!"

It was Zyuoh Raven!

"Big Bro, snap out of it!" cried Cubegirl. "Cease your futile begging, child!" said Evil Yamato. "What did you do to him?!" asked Bud. Evil Yamato chuckled at their confusion. "If you're looking for a big reveal, prepare yourselves. You see, I didn't just defeat your annoying friend, I wounded him. Fatally!" Their eyes opened wide. "There's more. My Zyuman Power is finite, so everytime I'm destroyed, that excess power is wasted. I found a way around that. I healed him with my Zyuman Power and courtesy of you, it has awakened!" Leo clenched his fist and sneered. "You punk, this was your plan from the start!" The Zyuoh Changer unlocked and Evil Yamato pressed the buttons.

"Eag-zzkrzg-Eagle!"

"Once you're purged, nobody will threaten my Frozen Forest!" He rotated it to complete the change picture. "Honno Kakusei!" A spinning cube of red light summoned the eagle Zyuman Power while a distorted battle cry sounded in the background. Silhouettes of Gorilla and Whale powered up forms projected from Eagle's radiant aura and the raven Zyuman Power merged sky, land and sea in to one body.

"Don't mess with MY planet!" said Evil Eagle.

"He can do Yasei Dai Kaihou!" said Leo. It was Instinct Great Awakening, the ability to utilize the full potential of three animals simultaneously. Good thing Misao was elsewhere or he would've been overcome with depression at the sight of this gargantuan hulk. "Impossible!" said Bud. "Guys, we have to stop him!" said Amu.

"Lion!" "Tiger!" "Bird!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

"This planet, we're going to save it!" said Tiger.

Round 3. This time was going to be difficult. A dangerous amount of Zyuman Power was inside his body and they couldn't fight seriously in case Yamato got injured. Evil Eagle summoned the Whale Change Gun and started with the finisher. "Zyuoh Final!" The recoil was rendered insignificant as he guided the unstable torrent of energy towards them. The powerful blast of the ultimate champion brought them to their knees but their spirits wouldn't be broken by such a cheap tactic. They gathered the strength deep inside to stand up and fight. Surrender was not an option! From the moment they stood to the moment they fell, Evil Eagle showed no mercy. Lion was the first to experience his wrath as they crossed blades of their Zyuoh Busters. "Come on bro, I know you're in there somewhere." he said to the human within. Evil Eagle overpowered him with gorilla strength and slashed him aside. "Talking has no effect." he taunted. "Then I'll try blasting instead!" said Tiger, blasting him several times with zero damage. He retaliated by diving in the ground and flanking her but she couldn't shrug off the blasts so easily. "Those such as yourselves who refuse my ideals are unworthy!" he said. The last challenger was Bird, one of his fathers. "This ends now, you don't understand what people call 'life'!" said Bird. They took flight and Evil Eagle compensated for his lesser agility with surprise. Bird attempted to lasso him but he just grabbed the blade like it was nothing and slammed him to the ground. "To consume and reproduce, what more could there be of any objective value?" asked Evil Eagle.

For a computer program, no matter how intelligent, it was inconceivable. Beyond his perception of reality. He couldn't understand the meaning of life. "Heed my warning, failed guardians, I will purge you when the time comes. For now, there are bigger worms to fry and I'm feeling raven-ous!" said Evil Eagle, making another thematic pun. They were spared a contemptuous death as the possessed Zyuohger flew over the horizon.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Next time, the touching reunion between my other OCs and an explanation for why certain events are different from how you remember. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 8 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	8. Alive Together

Hey everybody! It occurred to me that the cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 6 is still in suspense. Well, wait no more. If you have been waiting to learn all about the backstory of my Black Ops OCs, this episode should hopefully satisfy some of your curiosities.

Happy reading!

* * *

 **Alive Together**

For the first time in a year, Shirou saw the fragment of his heart that was lost. The planet was still broken, the godlike virus at large, but before him stood a harbinger of hope. It was his partner, Jun. "You're alive!" said Shirou. They hugged and gave each other a fistbump of friendship. "Good to see you again, pal." said Jun. Shirou's glee was briefly overridden by confusion. "So, uh, how?" It was a long story so Jun took a moment to find a logical starting point. "Well, it's complicated. Basically when I touched this here trinket, it wasn't just Corvus that got transferred. My consciousness was also stored as a backup." he explained. "So you were sleeping inside this whole time, until you were given new life by the Frozen Forest." concluded Tusk. Jun gave a thumbs up gesture to confirm his understanding. "What do you know about a certain terrorist wandering around?" asked Sela. They still didn't know how she was alive. "Yeah, the girl's name is Kita Yuki. Crazy thing happened. I woke up here and then this giant head alien dude attacked me and interfaced with my DNI. The Yuki you saw is some kind of clone thing he made out of my memory." Sela, Tusk and Misao had the same hunch about that alien he described. "Cubal, that guy!" said Misao.

There was another obvious topic of discussion, the state of the world, the Frozen Forest. "Jun, how do we get out of this terrible place?" asked Sela. "It's impossible unless you have the original template." said Jun. Everyone frowned. "Which I do." he continued. Their eyes opened wide at the revelation. Could they really go home? "I saved it inside my DNI, all we need now is to gather all six of the champion's credentials to activate the Link Cube and I can undo this mess." Finally, they thought, an objective. There was hope left in the world after all. "But we can't stop Raven like this, he's stronger than any opponent we've ever faced." said Tusk. "That's why I put a nullifier on the Link Cube to reduce his Zyuman Power capacity. However, it's been acting strangely. I wonder if he has a repository I don't know about." Misao stepped forward. "He's strong, but together, we can surely defeat him!" Jun approved of his optimistic outlook.

Day turned to night and they constructed a campfire. It was the only thing that would keep them warm in absence of the sun's radiance as the snow continued to fall. Without the other three credentials, there was nothing to do but wait for their comrades to arrive, recover from the previous battle and observe any abnormal activity around the Link Cube. Tusk and Misao were reading a book over the fire while Shirou had gone to fetch wood to fuel it. Sela and Jun sat on the hill by the Link Cube talking seriously.

"Hey, what's Shirou's problem?" asked Sela. "He's seen some crazy stuff, y'know. We weren't just partners, we were like brothers, ketchup and mustard. Killing me must have killed him a little as well." said Jun. "Wait, he really killed you?!" asked Sela. "I was infected by Corvus, my death was the only way to trap him. He did the same to Yuki, his girlfriend, at least until he found out she was working for Cordis Die." said Jun. Sela's empathy increased substantially. She never had to eliminate a friend before. That was Shirou's buried history. "Maybe I can't help him after all." Jun pointed a finger at Tusk and Misao towards the fire below. "You see those guys, he and I used to have a friendship like theirs. Whenever he started to brood or sulk, I'd have his back, raise his spirits and get his energy pumped up again." Sela knew now her error. Misao's depression wouldn't be cured with a single pep talk. It was an ongoing problem, that they were still dealing with, but he was also motivated. If Shirou had a similar condition, then there was a deep hotblooded feeling inside him, waiting for one who cared enough to pry it out. "So that's how he works. BTW, Jun, your friendship with Shirou didn't end with your life. And it's not like you're dead anymore, y'know." said Sela. "Okay, you got me!" said Jun.

He gave her a strange-looking blaster. It was a light shade of blue and the barrel was shaped like a shark. "What is that?" she asked. "It's called the Shark Jawzer. When Corvus infected me, I saw it in a vision and so I ordered it on the 54i black market. Didn't tell Shirou since he hates 54i, like, a lot. Anyway, I think you should have it." he replied. Sela admired the craftsmanship of her new weapon. Clearly this was state of the art. "Would you mind letting me take a look at your champion's credential?" asked Jun. "Here." she said, handing over the trinket. He could feel the power pulsing inside through his DNI. "Cool! So this little device can turn you in to a superhero." he said. "How long have Black Ops known about Zyuland, about us?" asked Sela. "Uh, let's see, something like, 15 years. Coalescence's discovery advanced work on the Corvus program by several decades!" he replied. Sela took back her Zyuoh Changer, sad that their biotechnology was causing humanity problems before she was even an adult. "With this weapon you gave me, I'll stop him, no matter what!"

Shirou pried a weak branch from a tree and took a moment to look at the great lake that was covered jet black by the strange sky. Little did he know he was being watched by none other than his nemesis, Yuki. Hiding amidst the shadowy tops of the timber surrounding him. "No mercy for you, Tsubasa Shirou." she said in the volume of a whisper. Despite her doubts about the future, she was only out for blood, a single selfish desire fueling her every thought and action. This was the phase of Cubal's plan that she waited for, a plan she no longer cared about. In the present moment, this human soldier and the people who commanded him wronged her and plagued the planet with their nasty virus and she wanted nothing more than to punish him for his crime.

"BANG"

That was the unmistakable sound of a revolver being fired, alerting them. Sela and Jun were first to react and rushed to find Shirou before it was too late. Tusk and Misao followed but their way was blocked by Moebas. "We don't have time for you alien freaks!" said Tusk. "So get out of our way, or else!" said Misao. They ignored their warnings and attacked in melee combat.

Shirou was hit in the shoulder and knocked to the ground while Yuki approached malevolently. "I've waited a long time in hell to come back and destroy you, so I'll make your ending long and painful." Zyuoh Shark blasted the prosthetic arm, causing her to lose aim. "Get lost, brat!" said Yuki. "How about I don't and you give up instead?" asked Shark rhetorically. "Amateur, that comeback was pathetic!" mocked Yuki. "Not as pathetic as your assassination attempt. Check, Yuki, your move." countered Shark. Shirou was on edge, wondering why a fight hadn't yet begun between the two combatants. "Just skip the banter and cut to the fighting part already, I'm still injured over here!" Shark noticed his wound and realized it was time to get serious! "Don't worry, I won't let her lay another finger on you."

All according to plan, Cubal took advantage of the diversion to tinker with the Link Cube. "Well done, Yuki." he said, interfacing through the memory clone gauntlet.

Jun suffered a nauseating headache. "Jun, what's happening?" asked Shirou. "It feels like something's slimin' around inside my brain, or the Link Cube, which is transmitting my consciousness. Just imagine a really bad migraine, this is worse!" replied Jun in discomfort. "Better than getting shot in the head, we both know how that feels. Shirou has his backup and I have mine." said Yuki. She whistled and a horde of Moebas appeared out of camouflage and prepared to open fire on the three sitting ducks. "What the fudge!" said Shirou. Shark grabbed him and rushed for cover behind a thick felled branch along with Jun. "We're outnumbered and there's nowhere to run." said Jun shaking off the nausea. Shark observed the lake mere yards away from her current position. "No problem, I can swim." Her allies shared a revelation. "We're counting on you. We'll draw aggro and you flank them." said Shirou.

Shark awakened her instincts with "Yasei Kaihou!" and dived in to the water where bullets were slowed by its liquid properties. Jun was at a disadvantage with his short-range shotgun so he provided tactical support from the arsenal of cyber cores installed in his DNI. Due to the skull splitting sensation lingering in his head, it would take him longer to recharge them, but he was eager to work alongside his old friend once more. He also carried spare shells for Shirou's magazine since many were spent in the valley battle.

Shirou returned fire on their attackers and those brash enough to advance were promptly taken care of by Jun's upgraded firefly disintegration swarm. The deadly cloud of little metal mites evaporated them in to nothing. "You won't hold out forever, I'll scatter your ashes here right now!" said Yuki. Shark surfaced behind the action and executed her stealthy approach, destroying the Moebas unaware. Few were left standing when her position was revealed and Yuki retreated up the hill. It wasn't long before her servants were wiped out and Shirou and Jun pursued her like before. This time, Yuki was determined not to be the one who died. Eventually, she reached a dead end, a cliff overlooking the rough waves below.

She had a flashback to last year. She was cornered just like she was now. She remembered in her DNI, the moment of death, the last moment where the barrel was touching her forehead. Then the bullet. That memory was perfectly recorded in her spinal implant. Her pursuers arrived moments later, there was really nowhere to run for her. She didn't bother to turn, instead she looked down at the watery death. Or a possible escape from it. "End of the line." said Shirou. Relentlessly, Yuki clenched her fist, letting them know she was serious about surviving. "I hate the way you act like a hero, after you massacred my friends and family, then me." she said. "I only resort to extreme violence when diplomacy fails. You on the other hand, you're no better. How many innocent lives were lost in the riots, in your crusade for freedom and equality?" asked Shirou. Shark stepped in with something to add. "What matters is right now, what we want. We all want the same thing." Jun gave Shirou a gesture to chill while they negotiated. "We want our planet back, right?" he asked. Yuki sneered. "It's too late for that."

She jumped. They ran to the edge and saw her consumed by the raging tide. Falling from a height this high, her chance of survival was improbable but nevertheless, she escaped the fate that ended her previous life. "Maybe it's for the best, I didn't want to shoot the same person twice." admitted Shirou. In the end, his feeling of hatred was overcome by compassion for life. Sela, now demorphed, attempted to empathize. "Shirou, I apologize. From now on, I'm going to help you whether you like it or not." He was impressed by her assertion. "Now you're thinking like a soldier, Sela." said Shirou. "And you're thinking like a person, y'know, instead of a coldhearted monster." said Sela in jest. "I probably deserved that. Sorry." he confessed at last. Jun laughed mischievously at their banter. "Haha, you guys are more alike than you think." They gave him the same sharp stare with folded arms.

Their brief exchange of kind words was halted by the familiar ringtone of Sela's Zyuoh Changer. "Huh, I thought communication was down." Naturally, the next thing she did was answer the call. "Moshi moshi." She heard loud blasting and shouting emitting from the phone part. "Sela, it's bad! Yama-zzkrzg-der a spell, you need to hurry up!" It was Tusk's voice. "Tusk, you're breaking up, what's happening?" she asked. "zzkrzg-" Communication was lost. "My comrades are in trouble, they need our help!"

When the backup arrived, there were no more Moebas. They immediately noticed Tusk and Misao, bloodied and bruised, and then there was a red Zyuohger they barely recognized. "Hey, is that Yamato?" asked Sela. "It's his body." said Misao, struggling to stand. "But his mind is-" he continued. "No longer his own!" finished Evil Eagle. "Corvus." said Jun. "You mean, Raven's controlling him?!" asked Sela. Evil Eagle laughed viciously. "Correct. Now if you just let me destroy that man." he said, pointing towards Jun. "Then I'll let you keep your lives, that's my final mercy." They realized his plan. Jun had the original template of the Earth, the ability to destroy the Frozen Forest. With him out of the picture, there really would be no hope left. They were determined to keep him alive at all costs.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Next time, see the consequences of the fight against Evil Eagle as the two parties regroup. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 9 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	9. Partners Forever

Hey everybody! Sorry for the late upload again. Real life circumstances are interfering with my schedule, preventing me from finishing episodes in time for the weekend like I usually do. If a week elapses after the target, I'll just do a double upload like I did for Chapter 2 and 3. The interval between 6 and 7 was an exception since I was deliberately taking a break from writing that week.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Partners Forever**

This was an ultimatum. Our heroes wanted two things; Earth and Yamato back to normal. The bad guy controlled both of those and the only thing he wanted was Jun, their final hope of accomplishing the former, dead. In order to prevent that, they would have to destroy Raven in Yamato's body, sacrificing their friend's life in the process. Shirou recalled the motto: 'Forsake the few, save the many.' In his service on the military, he lived by these spiritless words. Now after everything he and his newfound allies had been through, he was prepared to discard it.

"We're going to have our cake and eat it!" said Shirou. "Yeah and you're going to eat hot lead!" said Jun. "So do your worst, featherface!" said Sela. Evil Eagle was enraged by their refusal to negotiate. "Dammit, I don't mind destroying you all if I have to!" Predictably, he blasted them with the Whale Change Gun and they dodged successfully. However, the impact made a crater in the ground, causing trees to fall around Shirou. "Watch out!" warned Jun as he pushed his injured friend away from the danger zone. He was the one crushed instead. "Jun!" called Shirou, concerned for his friend. "You brought this fate upon yourself." said Evil Eagle. He approached Jun to finish him but Shirou picked up his shotgun and started shooting at the possessed red ranger. "Leave him alone!" said Shirou. Evil Eagle recoiled in pain from the powerful bullets. He remembered he was using a mortal body as a vessel. Nevertheless, he shrugged it off, determined to fulfill his goal.

"Shark!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Zyuoh Shark had to fight him in close quarters to stop his advance. With Yamato's three Zyuman Powers glued together by the convergence of Raven, Evil Eagle was substantially stronger than her. "Sela, use the weapon!" said Jun. "No way, it's too dangerous!" said Shark. Evil Eagle exploited the fault in her guard and slashed her aside like a toy doll. Shirou pulled the tab from a grenade and cooked it in his hand for approximately 1.5 seconds before tossing it at him in a desperate attack. The timed explosion was mega hot and it managed to slow Evil Eagle for a while. Only a while though, was it really enough to slow him? Drawing concentrated power stored inside the human, he wouldn't stop, never ever, not until someone stopped him. They were prolonging the one-sided struggle, hoping for a miracle to save them, or a light to shine the way to victory.

He stood up. Shirou's finger, wrapped firmly around the trigger, twitched and became numb as the adrenaline rush wore off. He could no longer fight the pain in his shoulder wound, it was exhausting. Yet he maintained his grip, pushing his body beyond its limit. He wanted to let go but he couldn't, he wouldn't. Jun needed him. So he pulled the trigger. Round after round he fired, suffered through the excruciating, bloody throb. More and more, until his aim swayed and the magazine needed reloading. Evil Eagle wasn't chivalrous, he wasn't going to wait. He punched Shirou in the stomach and walked past him. With the last of his strength, Shirou grabbed Evil Eagle's leg. "Leave him alone." he repeated weakly. It was futile. Evil Eagle kicked him and he rolled over. Shark engaged him in combat once more but he configured his Zyuoh Buster and blasted her at point blank range, demorphing her.

"I've seen this resistance many times. Weak, mortal life forms fighting a battle that they have no chance of winning. Let me show you the stupidity of your actions!"

Evil Eagle pried Jun from the crushing weight and thrust his sword through his chest. Jun yelled in pain as he felt the cold metal suck the life from his hemorrhaged organs. Death, it was familiar to him. Sela, Shirou, Tusk and Misao watched in silence, in disbelief. Again they failed to protect the most important thing. "There's nothing stupid about taking a stand for a good cause." said Jun. "Then be gone from this plane of existence and oppose me no more!" said Evil Eagle, pulling out the blade and dropping his dying body on the ground.

Zyuoh Bird arrived too late, he saw Jun impaled, saw Evil Eagle take his life in cold blood. "I swear, I will put an end to your streak!" shouted Bird. He flew towards Evil Eagle and punched him in to the water. "You're forgetting about your friend. If you destroy me, you'll lose him!" said Evil Eagle. Bird showed no hesitation, no weakness. "I can hear his voice right now. 'Don't let me rampage anymore!' He puts others before himself, that's why I know I can destroy you, for his sake." He prepared his offensive stance.

Shirou limped over to his buddy and grabbed his hand. "Don't die, Jun! I can't lose you a second time." begged Shirou. "Not just me, you're everyone's last chance." Jun coughed up blood. "Even if I'm gone, my memory will survive." said Jun. Shirou cried a river, it broke the dam of emotion suppression and his deepest feelings were expressed. "I don't want you to go!" he said. "I'm glad we met, Shirou. At least this time, I can rest in peace, knowing that I made a difference." said Jun. His voice was weak. "Please, don't leave me alone!" begged Shirou. "Good luck, partner." bid Jun. Those were his final words. His hand slipped from Shirou's grasp.

Nomura Jun was dead.

Sela, Tusk and Misao watched the fight between Bird and Evil Eagle. Neither combatant was holding back. "Bud, are you trying to destroy Yamato?" asked Tusk. Evil Eagle planned to slam Bird with his giant fist but the elegant flyer dodged with a reverse glide. "Trust me." said Bird. "This is too reckless!" said Misao. Evil Eagle grabbed a heavy boulder and propelled it at Bird who extended his Eaglizer to split it in half. "Sela, you received a special weapon from Jun. I want you to use it on my command!" said Bud. She revealed her new blaster to the others. "How did he know?" she asked rhetorically. She recalled its name, the Shark Jawzer, a unique weapon that Jun claimed could temporarily disable the effects of Zyuman Power. A single shot would be lethal to Zyumen and with all the power inhabiting Yamato's body, it would easily produce a dangerous and unstable result.

Like last time, Bird attempted to lasso him and he grabbed the blade in mid swing, pulling him in his direction. "Now!" ordered Bird. Sela pressed a button on the body of the firearm and the mouth opened to reveal a revolving chamber containing six white and red darts.

"Sha-Sha-Shark Jawzer!" it announced.

She pulled the trigger and a sharp tooth projectile injected substance in to Evil Eagle's, Yamato's, body. The three Zyuman Powers reacted dangerously, the form became unstable and he lost hold of the blade. It was time for the critical finish as Bird punched and rebounded before successfully lassoing a tree and spinning around it with momentum and performing a final dropkick. Bird's landing splashed spectacularly in the shallow water behind Evil Eagle, the amalgamation split apart by the synchronized attack on his vessel's well of Zyuman Power. "I may have lost this fight, but take a look at the bigger picture. The Frozen Forest is forever and two of your strongest men are no more. I always come back and next time we meet, know that victory belongs to me!" he said before exploding. Yamato's body remained in his place. Like Jun before him, now he was on the brink of death as well.

Leo, Amu and Cubegirl arrived on foot and saw Bird standing over Yamato's body. "Bud, you piece of junk, you know what you just did?!" asked Leo, shaking him on the shoulders violently. Amu crouched over Yamato, trying to wake him from eternal sleep. "Why?!" demanded Amu. Bird walked away from Leo. "Hey punk, don't ignore me!" said Leo. He tried to punch him but Tusk restrained the enraged lion. "Let go, dammit, I won't allow him to get away with this!" Tusk pushed him back. "It doesn't matter." he said. "Screw that, you know everything is his fault right?" asked Leo. "Shut up!" said Sela. Cubegirl refrained from the argument. She blamed herself for giving him the sabotaged cube, for her part in his demise. She was too upset to do anything. Misao just sat and sulked in depression, his friend lost his life in front of him and he couldn't stop it. Bird stood over Yamato, beside Amu who was crying. He then crouched, put the Zyuoh Changer, now devoid of all external influence, in Yamato's cold palm and placed his own hand around it. Life, a finite resource, a nonrefundable gift. For the second time in his life, he was prepared to give up his youth and time to save him again. A gift given twice, a noble sacrifice. Zyuman Power, dyed red by the transfer device, flowed from Bird's body to Yamato's, restoring his vital functions and leaving his savior physically drained.

Automatically demorphed, unable to sustain the suit due to his weakened condition, Bud's hair was once more the decayed white that they were accustomed to. His breathing was heavier and his sight less sharp. Yamato opened his eyes slowly, escalating to a quick spring to a standing position when he realized what happened. What he had done. What he was made to do. Zyuoh Raven knew he was a human, a blank state, a generalist, not limited to a specific type of Zyuman Power. It was the perk and also the curse of a human among Zyumen. Today it was the latter, as he took advantage of that living sponge to grow stronger and manipulate his enemies. To commit murder. Jun's blood was on Yamato's hands.

"Get away from me." he said. "Yamato, calm down, you don't have to isolate yourself for this." said Amu. "These hands, mine, they, they-" he ran away and didn't look back. He figured if he wasn't around, he wouldn't get anyone else hurt or, y'know. The ransom, the repository, the puppet, they were all him. Even though he didn't mean any of it, he couldn't take it back. "Big Bro, come back!" cried Cubegirl. Alas, he was gone. Whether they liked it or not.

"Bud, how did you do that again?" asked Tusk. "The Frozen Forest reverted Larry and I to our natural ages. The same way it saved Misao from his fate. Call it a life insurance." said Bud, pausing frequently to fill his rapidly aged lungs with oxygen. "For real?!" asked Sela. "Yeah." said Bud frankly. "Uh, I don't know if this is bad time for introductions, but who's the girl?" asked Misao. "I'm Cubegirl. At least that's the unique identifier they gave me." she said. "Nice to meet you, I guess." said Misao. Leo's mind remained fixed on the matter at hand. "More importantly, what the fudge is going on here?!" he demanded.

"Hell!" It was Shirou. He was holding Jun's fresh corpse in his arms. "Let me guess, Raven's doing, or rather, Bud's." said Leo. He, Sela, Tusk and Misao turned to face Bud with various expressions. Mostly confusion, some surprised and there was anger in Leo's eyes. Shirou, Amu and Cubegirl looked at the floor. "I made Corvus." admitted Bud. "He's a scientist, a freakin' nutjob!" said Leo. "And he's sorry." said Amu. "You bet your *** he's sorry. I'd be sorry too if I made a program that turned the world inside out, stole people's free will, skewered a dude and generally screwed everything up!" he ranted. "Tusk, Amu, Misao, go find Yamato, we need all the champion's credentials." said Bud. "Come on guys, he needs our help." said Amu. "While the rest of us do nothing, screw that!" said Leo. "There's another quintessential component that I hope is still intact. We're going to split up and search and if you want your happy ending, you'll help." said Bud.

With Jun and the template gone, what was Bud's plan? In the face of defeat and despair, they resisted. A small spark to ignite their stalled engines. And so the team was divided once more.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Next time, see how a despairing red ranger tries to cope with the guilt of his actions. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 10 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	10. Clipped Wings

Hey everybody! The cold weather is about to get even colder in this episode.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Clipped Wings**

"Pure white snowflakes fall all around. You can feel them melt on your skin. You are not cold." Instead of facing problems, sometimes it's just easier to pretend they don't exist. After all, a snow white lie was more appealing than a grim black truth. That was the system of the Frozen Forest. A paradise in hell. A falsehood to deny reality and offer salvation from sadness. Through it all, the tragedy and pain, there were still those strong of will, big of heart. Those who decided not to take the easy way out. Defiantly, they continued to fight with the smallest flicker of hope driving them forward. There was a problem with the world and they refused to ignore it. They refused to surrender their right to cry and scream. To be free.

Yamato was far ahead, stumbling on in a panic, his heart filled with regret and guilt. "I have to get away. I have to get away." he said. "Listen only to the sound of my voice." He was stunned for a moment. "Did- did I say that?" A supernatural force had climbed down his throat and spit out a sentence. As he uttered it, he felt briefly, artificially content. "I screwed everything up. I don't deserve to live." he said, reminding himself that he had no reason to feel like that. Eventually, he reached a small clearing with a smooth snowy hill. He fell to his knees and lied down in the white grass. He looked up at the grey sky and the snow falling around him. His heart rhythm and breathing slowed down. "So this is how it ends." Warm tears poured down his face, so warm they seemed that he no longer felt the chilling cold.

Rushing through the woods, Tusk, Amu and Misao searched for the missing Yamato. Misao felt the numbing snow on his sensitive skin getting even colder in the growing storm as they progressed with unceasing haste. "Guys, there could be a blizzard soon. We need to find him fast." he warned. "Thermodynamics are warped here, we could be walking in to a subzero temperature zone." speculated Tusk. "If that's where Yamato's headed, we have no choice but to keep going, we have a duty." said Amu. "Exactly. And as guardians, we must be prepared to go beyond the call of duty, to save our friends." said Tusk.

At a stone viaduct connecting two cliffs over a river, the rescue troop arrived. They would need to cross it in order to save their friend from certain doom. It was not as simple a task as it sounded though, for a familiar foe confronted them in the center. It was Nalia, giver of Continues, Ginis' most trusted ally! Their enemy stood before them, looking serious and nonchalant as always, waiting patiently for their arrival. How deep was her involvement in this incident?

"Damn Nalia! What do you want?" said Misao. Tusk looked at the Deathgalien leader with a scornful expression. "I second that. No thank you, Nalia." started Tusk. "A string of events starts with a single action, like a domino effect. Raven showed up, then Cubal and now you." Nalia scowled at the accusation. "Don't compare me to them. Cubal was acting on his own again and I want to know what evil scheme he was plotting behind our backs." she demanded. They were surprised to hear Cubal was acting alone. "Oh, I get it. So that's what happened. Awakening the malicious entity inside the Link Cube, that was deliberate?" added Misao. "Impossible." said Tusk. "That was a year ago, before Ginis chose his 100th target to destroy. Cubal couldn't have known then." Amu wanted clarity from the bad guy himself. "Cubal, if he's responsible for all this suffering, I'll make him pay, I swear. So spill your secret now, or else!" she demanded. "Or else- you'll make me pay, or so you claim. Not much of an incentive to talk, I'm afraid. If you want answers, ask Cubal, silly girl. Before I get to the schemer first and cut out his poisonous tongue." said Nalia. Amu winced at her vicious mockery until Tusk gently grabbed her shoulder and shook his head in discouragement, reminding her of their immediate concern. "Either way, we don't have time to waste on you, so get out of the way." he warned.

Nalia was not intimidated by the warning. "Zyuohgers, I won't keep you from rescuing your pitiful friend any longer. You've already given me everything I came for and now I'll leave the rest to you. Make the planet normal again so the Blood Game can continue. In its current state, it's not fit for entertaining Master Ginis. Not fit for destruction. Make it so, the shining blue crystal in the galaxy that Master Ginis was destined to destroy!"

Her business with them was concluded, so she jumped off the viaduct in to her personal Deathgalien jet and flew away. Inside the cockpit, she was frustrated about her situation, going to her enemies for information. She was determined to put it to good use. "Cubal, I'm coming for you. You will be reprimanded for betraying Master Ginis' instructions!" she muttered. As the jet fled in the light of the sun, the Zyuohgers watched in the distance with burning spirits of justice. "That's _never_ going to happen!" shouted Misao vigorously. "Yeah! Nobody messes with this planet!" said Amu. "We still have a job to do, guys. Come on, we'll prove her wrong about the strong bonds between Zyumen and humans." said Tusk.

There was something else on their minds, Cubal. Each of them had a good reason to hate his guts. He trapped Amu in a Moeba's body, messed with Tusk's treasured books and frequently tormented Misao by exploiting his turbulent personality. Now they had a new reason. "We'll show Cubal as well." vowed Tusk. "Oorah!" shouted Misao in agreement, mimicking the warcry of U.S. marines. Amu nodded, also determined to teach him a lesson about the power of friendship. Sensing each other's feelings, the emotions they shared, a unanimous decision was made. Even if the world was beyond saving, they intended to save their friend, no matter what. They were going to defeat Cubal. ASAP!

Minutes later, the rescue troop reached Yamato and the blizzard of subzero temperature would soon follow. "Yamato!" called Misao. Their runaway friend was lying in the same place. However his expression had changed. There was no emotion in his eyes and he seemed to be talking to himself. Approaching him, they heard the words. Monotonous and empty.

"Listen only to the sound of my voice. Let your mind relax. Let your thoughts drift. Let the bad memories fade. Let peace be upon you."

Amu looked at him strangely. "It's like those people in the village." she said. "He succumbed to the Frozen Forest." concluded Tusk. Yamato couldn't endure the sadness, the feeling of someone else's blood on his hands. It offered to take away his suffering and he accepted. His strong will was broken. Amu hugged him in a platonic way to snap him out of it.

"Surrender yourself to your dreams. Let them wash over you like the gentle waves of the bluest ocean. Let them envelop you. Comfort you."

Her kind gesture was no use. She started to cry for him. Tusk was deep in thought, trying to find a solution to the problem. Nothing came to mind. But Misao was angry. He thought, how could he, someone so prone to depression and self deprecation, resist it, but Yamato couldn't? How could the man who snapped him out of his brainwashing, who reminded him it wasn't his fault, become brainwashed all on his own? It infuriated him.

He closed his eyes and opened them again. He was standing in a black space. "Oh no! I lost my bet." It was the dead crocodile Zyuman. "What was the bet?" asked Misao. They were joined by the dead wolf Zyuman. "He bet you would be the first victim of the Frozen Forest. I bet you would resist. I won." Crocodile handed Wolf some Zyuland currency. "Here you go, fleabag, not that you can spend any of it." he gloated. "Dammit!" said Wolf, remembering he was deceased. "I can't believe this is happening!" said Misao, lamenting about his own situation. "Then let's make a different kind of bet." It was the voice of reason, the dead rhino Zyuman. "I bet Misao can snap him out of it." Misao doubted himself. "What can I do?" he asked incredulously. "He won't hear you unless you speak your mind." said Rhino.

He closed his eyes and opened them again. Tusk and Amu made no progress since his communion with the voices in his head. Rhino's advice echoed in his thoughts and he knew what had to be done. He picked up Yamato by the collar of his jacket and punched him in the face. The chanting stopped. "Snap out of it already! When I blamed myself for the deaths of those Zyumen and hurting you guys, you convinced me I could use my powers for good. Now you're just going to run away and forget about all that? Hypocrite! Those emotions are painful, I know, but they belong to you. Don't ignore them, act on them! Atone and keep fighting!"

Yamato was petrified by Misao's pep talk. "Misao-" said Amu, surprised by his reaction. "Wake up." he said. There was a moment of pause, approximately 10 seconds long, where Tusk and Amu stared at Misao and Misao started at Yamato and Yamato stared at the ground. Misao had nothing left say to him.

"This is all my fault." It was Yamato. And that was his voice. Everyone looked at him, surprised. "That's why- that's why I have to take responsibility!" Misao offered his hand to help him up. He accepted it and was grateful for his harsh speech. "Thanks, Micchan. You made me see what's really important, what I, we, still have to protect." he said. "Don't mention it, I was only speaking my mind." replied Misao.

"This planet belongs to all of us!"

Meanwhile, at the lake. "Tell me, Cubegirl, what do you remember?" asked Leo. He was suspicious. Cubegirl, who was sitting on a rock, was afraid to make eye contact with the boisterous man. "To be honest, I remember things. But those memories don't feel right." she said shyly. "So basically, nothing." prompted Leo. She didn't want to vex him so she elaborated. "I remember about the cube. And there were others too, like a gold one and a prismatic one. Maybe I got the wrong cube and that's why it asked me to give it to Big Bro. Maybe I just have a malfunction and can't process qualitative data. The cubes are many, different colors, different sizes, always the same shape, this I know for sure." Her fragmented mind was like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece with little context and clearly the champion's credentials were involved somehow.

Bud arrived to check up on them. "Are you behaving?" he asked. "Yes." replied Cubegirl. "I was talking to Leo." clarified Bud. Leo confronted him again, his grudge was not yet resolved. "I'm going to hurt you." he said. Bud rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this." Leo wasn't deterred, his anger was motivating him. "I don't care. Everything bad that's happened in my life started with you. Getting separated from my home, my family. Zyuoh Raven, the Frozen Forest, all those innocent people suffering for your mistake. Jun's death, Yamato going crazy. Everything started with you!" Bud tried to reason. "The Frozen Forest is amplifying your hatred, misdirecting it, trying to dominate you. To take over your mind. Resist. Think." Leo punched his fists together.

"I'll be fine once I kill you."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

A problem solved, another created. Another ranger succumbed to the influence of the Frozen Forest. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Next time, Leo and Bud will fight. Look forward to it!


	11. Persisting Backup

Hey everybody! I hope you're still enjoying this story so far. I just felt obliged to give a quick warning that the first 3 paragraphs of this episode contain graphic violence and bloodshed. In case you're sensitive to that kind of thing. To quote Lupin Red: "You've been warned!" (TeamPatrangerFTW)

Happy reading!

* * *

 **Persisting Backup**

Punched in the face like that, it hurt. Quite a lot. Bud stood up and faced his ally turned enemy, wiping the blood from his lip. "Guess I have no choice." he lamented. Leo was serious about killing him and he wasn't pulling any punches. Bud had to defend himself. They reverted to their Zyuman forms. This was about to get graphic.

Cubegirl took a stand. "Please don't do this!" she begged. "Save it!" Leo growled. He struck again, landing another hit on the formerly unscathed side of Bud's face. Instead of going down, he recovered quickly and retaliated with a charged fist to Leo's gut, barely missing the critical damage zone. Bud attempted a dropkick but Leo dodged and gave him a third punch in the face, leaving a purple, black eye. Bud used his wings to break his fall and flew towards him. Leo tried his luck again, he missed and Bud kicked him in the leg followed by a backwards elbow to the face. Leo's nostrils were wet with his blood and lactic acid was wearing him down. Bud was straining to maintain his focus as his head was dizzy from three concussive blows.

Leo rushed towards his opponent and tackled him to ground. However, before he could punch him again, something happened. "STOP!" said Cubegirl. Her emotion was so strong that she unknowingly pressed a switch in her mind, unleashing a hidden power that halted the unnecessary fight between two superheroes who were never meant to clash. Leo's head started to pulse like crazy, as flashes of the past appeared inside through a sepia filter. Proud memories of helping his friends when they needed him most and saving lives from the evil Deathgaliens. He woke up from the hysterical rage, just in time to see Bud lose consciousness from his injuries. "What am I doing?" asked Leo, surprised by the damage he dealt to Bud. He fell to his knees and bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, man!" he said.

Shirou arrived and looked at the scene in alarm. He could only guess what had happened. His eyes met Cubegirl's, giving her a suspicious look. She was too anxious to face him, not knowing what she just did, only that it prevented further bloodshed. Soon after, Sela arrived as well. Her reaction to the sight was a mix of terror and anger that made her heart pound fiercely. "No way!" she said. "Looks like the kitty lost his temper, huh?" interrogated Shirou. "Leo, this is unacceptable! Dammit, I finally have a lead and you did this, I don't even care about your lame excuse!" scolded Sela.

Shirou changed the subject. "Did you find something?" Sela showed him a bloodstained vest, the same one that Yuki was wearing before she jumped. "Hey, that belonged to-" started Shirou. "Yuki, yeah. Except memory clones fade away upon death, which means she's still out there, she's alive." Shirou took the vest and examined it. There was no mistake, she survived the fall and this was proof. "How does this help us though?" he asked. Sela sighed, neither knew the significance. Then Cubegirl had a flashback to something Jun said, another memory she didn't understand. But she understood what he meant.

"Even if I'm gone, my memory will survive."

Within that line, lied the answer they were looking for. She repeated it aloud, gaining their attention. Jun may have died, but he left something important behind. In his memory, a legacy they overlooked in the chaos that followed his last breath. "Yuki was created from Jun's memory." said Cubegirl. "Where did you hear that?" asked Shirou. A dismissive shrug was the only reply he was given. Finally, Sela put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Unbelievable, she has the template!" Shirou's mind was blown by the revelation. His previous question was temporarily overshadowed by great determination when they realized it together.

They could still save this planet!

Unfortunately, they soon discovered that the solution was complicated at best. "First we have to find her, then-" started Sela. "Then we have to convince her to help us. Uh, I doubt she'll co-operate, y'know." finished Shirou. Indeed, an enemy he twice attempted to destroy, once successfully, was now the only person capable of undoing the Frozen Forest. Ain't it ironic, huh? "It won't be easy, but we still have to try!" said Sela. Leo stood up and faced Shirou. "Look dude, I know you don't trust me right now, hell I don't even trust me, but I won't let you hurt that girl!" His chivalry made Sela roll her eyes. "I don't want to. So come with and maybe I won't have to." responded Shirou. "I think your feelings are misplaced, Leo, but I won't deny you a chance to redeem yourself for the mess you made of Bud's face." said Sela. For Leo, it was a matter of personal pride, he had to make up for his mistake. "Thanks, Sela, that means a lot." he said, grateful for her support and faith in him.

And so they started the search. On the other side of the lake, there was a spooky path near the place where Yuki's vest was found. Leo, now in human form, was already proving his determination by carrying the unconscious body of Bud over his right shoulder. He accepted the burden. "Man, this is creeping me out!" he said upon seeing the path, dark and decorated with decaying trees and poisonous mushrooms. "Not backing out now, are you, kitty?" teased Shirou. "Like hell I am!" he responded. "I found it at the bottom of the lake. After surviving the fall, she must have discarded it to increase her buoyancy and the trail of blood points in this direction." concluded Sela. She took the lead, diving in to the spooky shadows. "Maybe we should turn around." said Cubegirl. "Not so fast, kid. We ain't giving up and you're safer with us, than without us." said Shirou. She nodded. There was still a suspicion about her that Shirou couldn't shake off.

The path led them to an ominous cave. Clearly all this scary scenery was just a backdrop for whatever danger lurked within the hollow rock. There was the smell of ash in the air, like someone lit a fire recently. A light only now extinguished, rendering the cave, its coarse walls and ceiling, completely dark. They knew their minds were playing tricks on them, the programmed environment trying to use their fears to protect itself from their crusade. There was no scary scenery, it wasn't real. They knew the person occupying the cave was dangerous, but she was still a person. She was however a virus in a very big computer and the security system naturally antagonized her. It deemed her memory a threat. Shirou lit a wooden torch using materials he found at the lake. They entered the lair.

"You have nerve to trespass here!" said Yuki. Her hissing voice echoed, disguising her location. Like a silencer on a muzzle. "They say cats have nine lives and humans only one. How many do you have left, lady?" asked Shirou. "I shed my humanity when my flesh merged with metal. But I'm done dying!" said Yuki. They twitched, expecting her to make the first move. She stayed out of sight, for now. "And I'm done trying to kill you, it's tedious." mocked Shirou. "You claim you're no longer human. Well I'm no expert on humanity, but I don't believe that. Jun was like you, a cyborg or whatever you call it, but he never gave up his human heart." said Sela. Yuki noticed how she referred to Jun in the past tense, the aforementioned man's absence and what that implied about his condition. "So the renowned hero is dead. Well if you're looking to replace him, look elsewhere!" she said. "Like it or not, you're a part of him. Your brain has- wait, what was it again?" started Leo. "Your brain has the original template of the Earth. All we need you to do is interface with the Link Cube and everything will be fixed. Maybe you'll even survive." finished Sela. Yuki observed her hand slowly fading away in a yellow light. With her neural tether to Jun broken, she figured her body wouldn't last much longer. "Do we have an understanding?" asked Shirou.

"BSSSH"

A concussion grenade, Shirou was familiar with this nonlethal projectile pain. Detonating immediately on impact as it hit the barely illuminated ground. There was no time to react, no light to see it coming. They had no choice but to wait it out for the duration of the effect, temporary disorientation and partial deafness that left their sixes vulnerable to attack. He couldn't maintain his grip and the torch was pried from his fingers by the amoral force of gravity, snuffing out the flame in an unseen puddle of nutritious mineral spring water, now tainted by unpalatable wood ash. Their negotiation was unsuccessful and now it had escalated to a fight to the death, where victory and failure had the same consequence, eternal winter, meaningless life and infinite sorrow.

He reached for his assault rifle instinctively to defend himself, but it remained sheathed safely in its holster. "I'll take that as a no." he said. Despite everything at stake, Yuki refused to co-operate. "If destruction is my destiny, I swear to take you all to hell with me!" she boasted. There were only three people who could see through the darkness and they were Yuki, thanks to night vision provided by her DNI, Leo, whose cat eyes were unfazed, and Cubegirl, surprised by how visible and green her surroundings had become, similar to Yuki's enhanced sight. She noticed Sela passed out on the ground, having fainted from the overwhelming noise. "I can see." she whispered. "Same her- wait, how the flying fudge do _you_ see?" asked Leo, barely quieter than his usual voice. "I can't see nothing, guys. Uh, Sela?" asked Shirou. There was no response. Leo and Cubegirl used their optical advantage to look out for an impending ambush.

That was when she made her next move. Her last move. Cubegirl saw her approach, quick and stealthy like an assassin. She underestimates me, thought Cubegirl, deciding to play along and act blind to trick her. And it worked. The clone prepared to strike but her blade was dodged with unbelievable ease. Next thing she knew, her face was pressed hard against the palm of Cubegirl's right hand. "Do it!" said Yuki. Screaming in rage, she vanished, lighting up the cave once more with yellow light. They were all shocked by what they saw. As Cubegirl absorbed her memory, she witnessed the past.

Jun was holding a Zyuoh Changer. "This must be one of the champion's credentials." he said. "Correct!" From beyond this world, this star system, a sadistic menace with a peanut shaped head and a love of complex strategies, conceived with the intention of causing the most emotional distress. All for the sake of entertaining Ginis. But no, this alien genius was not a mere follower, loyal and honest. No, not this guy. He had a secret agenda. Yeah, that's right. It was Cubal! "If you want to survive, I suggest you hand it over or risk provoking my wrath." prompted the Deathgalien. Jun scoffed at the idea of giving up such an important trinket. "Like, not a chance, dude. See, I need six of these to complete my mission and no offense but I sure as this icy hell ain't handing over nothing to a weirdo like you." he mocked. Cubal attacked him at full force with his blade and the cube fell in to the nearby spring, beyond their reach. "You choose your battles, solider." he said. "Don't think you've won yet. If I can't obtain them, I'll find others who can." said Jun. "Then may the best gentleman win." said Cubal. He used the memory clone gauntlet to invade Jun's brain and you guys know the rest if you've followed this story carefully. Thus ended the flashback.

Sela awoke outside the cave to the sight of Bud, now conscious himself albeit worse for wear. "Sela, you're with us." he said. "Same to you." she replied. "We have the template." he said. Sela looked around. Leo, Shirou and Cubegirl but not Yuki. "I'm afraid Yuki's gone. However, we got what we came for. Cubegirl extracted it." said Shirou. "Wait, Cubegirl did?" asked Sela. "Shirou, you told us memory could only be taken from brains using DNI!" said Leo. Bud and Shirou exchanged looks. They were both thinking the same thing. "And that was the truth." said Shirou. He walked over to Cubegirl and grabbed her hood. "Please, let go!" she begged. He pulled it down, revealing her neck and a DNI!

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Next time, their reaction to this twist and a climactic battle with Zyuoh Raven! I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 12 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	12. Cube Root

Hey everybody! I was very excited to upload this. I wanted to make Raven as intimidating as I could imagine. This is it, the final battle to take back the planet.

Happy reading!

* * *

 **Cube Root**

They were mortified at what they saw. This kid, augmented, with the same technology created by Coalescence to merge mind and machine. "It can't be!" said Sela. Cubegirl quickly raised her hood to hide her DNI. "This doesn't make any damn sense!" said Leo. "Look, it's not my fault okay, I promise. I've had it for as long as I can remember." said Cubegirl. As Leo took a pause to collect his thoughts, Shirou decided to delve deeper. "In that case, what is the first thing you can recall?" he asked. "Getting shot in the head, I remember it was very scary!" she answered. Again, the truth eluded them. "Your first memory is Yuki's last. Perhaps there's a fault with your DNI, causing you to lose the chronological order of events." speculated Bud. "She shouldn't even have a DNI, Bud! She's not a soldier." said Sela, demanding to know more. "I know that, but with her malfunction, we have no way of solving this mystery." said Bud.

There was little else they could do for her right now and Leo was getting restless. "Hey guys, we can figure this out later. The Link Cube's waiting for us!" he said. "Alright, we have to complete this mission. Cubegirl holds the key now." said Sela. Cubegirl's hand, the same one she used to absorb Yuki, shook in fear. "It's okay to be scared. You shouldn't have to carry such a heavy burden alone and you won't. That's why we're here. Have courage and leave the scary stuff to us." said Sela. "Okay, I'll comply." replied Cubegirl with the courage she summoned from her human heart. They all agreed, once the others returned with Yamato, it would finally be the time to end this nightmare.

Later that afternoon, Cubal and Raven met at the Link Cube site to discuss their evil plans. "I'm grateful for your facilitation, extraterrestrial life form. But enlighten me, what do you have to gain from this?" asked Raven. "Without going in to all the trivial details, there's someone I want to destroy. Someone in a place higher than both of us." replied Cubal, careful not to spill his secret to the world's largest living computer program. "I want no part of your insignificant alien affairs." said Raven, reluctant to repay the favor. "Believe it or not, you're already a part of this. Your new planet is marked for destruction and the alien you talk so lightly about isn't going to give a damn who the dominant species is. He wants it erased." said Cubal, offering an incentive. Of course, there was no way Ginis would consider destroying the planet when its inhabitants were subjugated and unable to defend it. But Raven didn't know that and fell for the deception. "If what you say is true then I have no choice. This higher entity you describe, he must be taken care of. But first, we will crush the opposition here in the Frozen Forest and with it any morale they have left, to ensure my authority is never challenged again." he said. "Those rangers are a threat no more. Not without the template and their credentials!" said Cubal.

"Oh, you mean these?"

Cubal glanced nonchalantly at the source of the voice. It was Amu. There was also Yamato, Sela, Leo, Tusk, Misao, Bud, Larry, Shirou and Cubegirl. Everyone was finally assembled at the place where it all started. And of course, 'these' was referring to the six credentials the rangers were holding in front of them. Raven waited to observe his affiliate's imminent freak out.

"Indeed, the cred- wait, how?" asked Cubal incredulously. The self-proclaimed genius didn't see that coming at all! "No matter. Without the template, those are little more than child's toys." he said. "Cubegirl, you want to show this punk?" asked Leo. Cubegirl obliged and generated a holographic image of the blue Earth from her hand. Cubal watched as the digital blueprint he thought was gone for good was now in visible form, spinning on its axis, taunting him. "You! No, no, this must be a trick. There's no way _you_ could have obtained that! I saw the clone fall to her death!" said Cubal. "Yuki survived, Cubal! On nothing more than instinct, she lived long enough to transfer the template to this girl, who you appear to be overly familiar with." said Bud.

Cubegirl ended the hologram, desperate to hear if the alien being accused was truly involved with her past. "Okay, fine, I installed her DNI, so what?! It was the only way to manifest Raven in the physical world, through the last recorded memory." confessed Cubal. "What does that even mean?" asked Tusk. "I've told you too much already!" said Cubal, denying them further information about the setup. "Raven, the Frozen Forest is your domain. It's your responsibility to defend it!" he said, before taking off in his Deathgalien jet. Now it was just Raven standing between the heroes and the Link Cube. "Damn coward!" said Raven. He turned his attention to them, prepared to protect his warped idea of a utopia with every ability he had at his disposal. Likewise, they were determined to take back their planet from the evil dictator and prevent any further bloodshed. Their long and painful struggle for victory was reaching its inevitable climax!

"Eagle!" "Shark!" "Lion!" "Elephant!" "Tiger!" "Rhinos!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

"This is the end of your reign!" said Eagle. "You're all fools for defying me. Now I can draw unlimited Zyuman Power from the Link Cube, there is no way for you to defeat me." said Raven. He charged his body with black energy from the large object to intimidate them. "We've beaten your Frozen Forest, we'll beat you as well!" boasted The World. "Si! Yamato and the others came to their senses. They chose to face adversity head on." said Larry. Suddenly, echoes of cheering alerted Raven. "Zyuohgers, you can do it!" Those people were giving all their support to defeat their oppressor. "Oh man, they're really rooting for you rangers. Sometimes being a non-covert task force has its perks." said Shirou, envying their popularity. "You can say that again." said Shark. "Selfish worms! You took away their happiness, my merciful gift. Damn you all. I will tolerate your interference no more!" said Raven. He was vexed.

Exercising his new power, he summoned a horde of ravens from the ground at a 90 foot radius from the Link Cube. "Bud, take Cubegirl and get out. Shirou, Larry, same goes." said Eagle. "Hey, what about you guys?" asked Shirou. "We'll take care of this maniac!" said The World. "Our spirits fight with you." said Shirou. Bud in Zyuman form flapped his wings and flew Cubegirl to safety. Shirou and Larry shot through the rising wall of birds, allowing them to escape. Upon landing, Bud collapsed due to the strain on his injured body. "Amigo, are you okay?" asked Larry. "I'll be out of action for a while." replied Bud. "We've done all we can for now, I have faith that those guys will find a way to beat him." said Larry.

The wall, now an impenetrable vortex, trapped the six rangers in a dangerous arena. Raven floated above the Link Cube and generated six jet black cubes each a sixth of its size at the edges of the vortex. He started to draw energy from one of these Node Cubes to his body, using the Link Cube as a medium. Eagle attempted to shoot him with his Zyuoh Buster, however it barely scratched him. "Guys, any bright ideas?" asked Eagle. "Well, I have this." said Shark activating her new Shark Jawzer.

"Sha-Sha-Shark Jawzer!"

She pulled the trigger and the dart reacted with Raven, severing his connection to the Node Cube and dealing approximately 16.6% damage. "Of course, that power makes him vulnerable to anti-Zyuman weapons." said Elephant. Raven regenerated his body and fired a bolt at them. They dodged and split up to gain a tactical advantage. If they weren't huddled together, he would have to target them one at a time. He restarted the drawing phase, leaving him prone to another dart. "Sela, hit him with another of those teeth!" advised Lion. "No, he'll just regenerate again." said Elephant. "Okay, genius, what do you suggest we do?" asked Tiger. Elephant observed the six Node Cubes and conceived a plan. "If he draws from all six cubes simultaneously, Sela could probably destroy him. It will be risky though." he said. "Got it. So we just have to hold out until that happens." said The World.

Raven successfully channeled a sixth of the full power and used it to pinpoint Shark. She noticed a spotlight where she was standing. There was no way to evade the impending smite so Tiger intercepted it. "I can buy you time!" she said. A lazer beam fired from the Link Cube and the direct hit demorphed her and rendered her unconscious. "Amu, no!" said Shark. "She completed her objective. We need to keep you in the fight so keep fighting!" said Eagle.

They returned to their defensive stances. Raven was now firing multiple bolts simultaneously but they were predictable and the remaining Zyuohgers were dodging them with careful anticipation. "Zyuoh Raven, don't hold back!" taunted Elephant. "Be careful what you wish for, wise guy!" he replied. He channeled a second sixth and immediately smote Elephant for mocking him.

He unleashed a row of shattering waves. Lion's leg was still injured from the bloody battle with Bud and he was barely keeping up with these relentless attacks. "That smarts!" he said, holding his leg in pain. "I guess I'll be next." Raven started drawing from the third Node Cube. "Hey punk, you think you're so hot up there while we're down here, actually breaking a sweat!" taunted Lion. Raven smote him. "Three down, three to go!" he said. It reminded them of their first fight when he was collecting their Zyuoh Changers and he said "Three down, three to go." albeit with less anger in his voice back then. "That goes for him as well." said Shark, noting that he was now at half of his full power.

For his next trick, he summoned a troop of doppelgangers of himself to fight them. "Yo, Yamato, we should power up!" said The World. "Good call!" said Eagle. Bringing out the Whale Change Gun, he pulled the handle grip to unfold the shining cube of legend, revealing the cannon.

"Whale!" "Crocodile!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Eagle fired the cannon to the sky and the spray of water rained down upon him, blessing him with ancient Zyuman Power.

"Champion inside the Champion! Zyuoh Whale!"

Zyuoh The World Crocodile Form used the GunRod to strike the doppelgangers with amazing strength and Shark had his back using her Zyuoh Buster in blade mode. Although these clones possessed only a fragment of their source's power, they still provided a sufficient distraction for the continuous barrage of bolts and waves that were thrown at them unsparingly. Whale was able to deflect some of the devastating ranged attacks by blasting them with unstable energy torrents. Too bad the recoil was causing him to take the most damage. However, Raven decided such a legendary power was inconvenient. "You were useful to me once. Now you're just a hindrance!" he said. Drawing from the fourth Node Cube, he smote Whale.

How much more heat could they take? Their numbers were decreasing and his strength was increasing. And they were letting it happen. The World continued to fight the unrelenting horde of doppelgangers while Shark was preoccupied with evasion. There was a part of Raven that was human, emotional, and that part was angry at The World, the first man to whom he ever lost a fight. "The World, you should not exist and you shall have no place in my world!" he said. It was the penultimate phase and The World was smote. "Sela, you're the last guardian standing. I believe in you!" said Misao, before losing consciousness.

"Shark woman, you're all alone now! Nobody will come to your aid!" said Raven. Shark remembered who gave her the weapon. Jun, a brave man who died a hero's death. She wanted to save the world for his sake and now for her comrades who were willing to take hits for her, to create the opportunity she needed. For everyone who called Earth their home. "Actually, I'm not. I've only made it this far thanks to my friends. I will be their champion and carry their hopes and dreams. Right now, the only person who's alone, is you, Zyuoh Raven!" she said. "Die!" said Raven. As the doppelgangers closed in on her location, the real body launched a massive arc of destruction towards the isolated target. There was no time to react, nowhere to run or hide.

"Not today." said Shark. Her Zyuoh Changer shined bright and incinerated the arc and the incoming hostiles. "Impossible!" said Raven. Shark had a flashback to episode 8. "That time, when Jun examined it, he must have interfaced and transferred his cyber cores. His last gift." she concluded. "You must die!" repeated Raven. He started rapidly firing bolts at her in a tantrum. "Yasei Kaihou!" she called unleashing the fin on her back. Using overdrive to boost her speed, she quickly evaded everything he threw at her. "No mortal can escape my wrath! I will crush you!" said Raven. His cape split in to large intimidating wings and he glided towards her. Shark started to spin towards him as well. They clashed!

Like two bullets colliding, they rebounded, an even match. "Purge!" said Raven. He teleported back to the Link Cube and initiated the final drawing phase, that would make him a complete physical godlike being! Shark stood up and primed her Shark Jawzer. "This is for you, Jun!" she said. "Wait, what?!" asked Raven. This was the opportunity. She fired the fatal dart and it reversed the flow from all six of the Node Cubes, tearing Raven to pieces as he screamed in rage until he was no more. Their plan worked.

Bud, Larry, Shirou and Cubegirl watched the vortex of birds disappear in a cloud of ash revealing the six rangers victorious and alive. "Big Sis! Everybody!" said Cubegirl, ecstatic to see Sela and the others alive. "She has the spirit of a solider." said Shirou. Larry gathered all of them to explain how they would restore the planet to its original state. Their injured, Leo and Bud, were aided by Amu and Yamato respectively. "Everybody, Raven may be gone for now, but his data is still intact. Guardians, present your credentials, por favor." said Larry. They raised them before the Link Cube and it absorbed them, opening the portal. "When Cubegirl enters the portal, she can simply upload the template from her DNI." he continued. Sela put her hand on Cubegirl's shoulder to reassure her. "And then we're going to investigate Coalescence and find out what happened to you." she said. "I'll do it!" said Cubegirl. She wanted to know who and what she was. With that motivation, she jumped inside the portal.

In the empty white space, she saw a tiny black cube, Raven's core.

"This is not the right cube."

Next to it, she saw a larger rainbow cube.

"A prismatic cube, like the one in my dreams. It's you I've longed to find."

She interfaced with it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Next time, the rangers call upon their biggest assets to fight- well, you'll just have to find out. I encourage anyone to review and if you liked this, feel safe to follow or fav, I would really appreciate it! =3

Chapter 13 coming soon. Look forward to it!


	13. Fatal Present

Hey everybody! If you thought the last fight was dramatic, this is the longest chapter yet, the eventful climax of the story (but not the finale) with high stakes action and important consequences as the global threat that started with Corvus comes to a surprise conclusion.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Fatal Present**

A white light consumed the Frozen Forest. When it faded, their eyes opened to a new sky, blue as victory and filled with white clouds of pride! This was their sky, their home, the result of their perseverance. "Oh golly, we did it. Our beautiful world is back. We won. Guys, we won!" said Yamato. Everyone started to celebrate and high five each other, even Shirou was in the mood. However, Sela quickly noticed something was missing, or rather, someone. "Wait a minute, where is Cubegirl?" she asked. Celebrating ceased forthwith as they started to count and realized that, indeed, their numbers didn't add up. "Maybe she's still inside the Link Cube?" suggested Misao. "No, the light should have expelled her and any other organic matter from its terminal." said Tusk. Bud observed a black bird fly between the trees. "There's something organic." he said, pointing at the creature. They all saw it, the raven, the omen of death. "Zyuohgers, it would seem our mission is not yet complete." said Shirou. They chased it through the woods, leading them to the same clearing from episode 1.

"Zyuoh Raven, you're alive!" said Leo.

There he stood before them, albeit crippled and weak, malting feathers from his tattered cape. Despite his feeble condition, he was still enraged. "Damn you all! You destroyed my utopia!" he said. "Don't you understand yet?" asked Amu. She walked over to him, literally looking down upon the once powerful artificial intelligence. She remembered the vow she made in episode 7, to make him see the error of his ways. "You never had a utopia. Desiring to find a purpose in your existence, you tried to tame us, without considering our feelings. We may have negative traits in our hearts like hatred and sadism, but we're more than that!"

Bud was inspired by Amu's sincerity and decided to take responsibility as the catalyst of this unfortunate series of events. He approached his creation to challenge him. "You're a construct of mental engrams. All those misdeeds you condemn are a part of you as well. You can't stop violence." he said. "The Frozen Forest was conceived by dominant species like yours. I thought I was giving you what you wanted!" said Raven. Bud shook his head. "The Frozen Forest was a mistake. I believe you can still find your purpose. You just need to look outside your programming. Life isn't just about survival. We're all trying to seize our destiny and that's why we keep going, no matter what obstacles we face. Power alone doesn't make us whole. Without heart, we'd just be hollow shells." he continued. A new feeling awakened within Raven, remorse. And he had a lot to be sorry for. He wondered why the Link Cube didn't just purge him, why it allowed him to live. Was it his punishment or a sign that his own destiny was out there somewhere? He wanted to believe. "All I wanted deep down was to make my life mean something." he said.

"BANG"

Everyone was surprised when his body disintegrated suddenly, leaving only a single feather behind. Someone had murdered him in his weakened state. Bud shed a tear on the remaining feather. They watched the culprit emerge from the shadows to gloat, it wasn't who they expected it to be.

"Nalia! But why?" asked Misao. "Thanks to the transmitter in the girl's DNI, I made a backup of Zyuoh Raven's data and now it can be used to a more destructive effect. For Ginis' entertainment, of course." explained Nalia, holding a Deathgalien memory core. "Whatever you're planning to do with that, we will stop you!" said Sela. "You can't. Today is the day Ginis destroys your precious planet." said Nalia. Behind her, a giant robot was deployed. "Meet the latest model, G.I.F.T. 3.0., the strongest weapon. And it's about to get even stronger!" she boasted.

G.I.F.T., a series of Deathgalien massacre machines so formidable that Ginis only used them in moderation to prevent ending the game too quickly. However, the Zyuohgers were the first to actually destroy one, forcing him to upgrade. They destroyed that one as well. This version had blue accents.

Nobody really knew what the acronym stood for. Ginis' Impossibly Fun Toy?

Nalia entered the cockpit. "How ironic that Earth will be destroyed by its own resources." she said, before inserting the memory core in the machine terminal. G.I.F.T. 3.0. was outfitted with intimidating wings and talons, using the artificial raven Zyuman Power. "G.I.F.T. 3.0.1. complete." said Nalia. G.I.F.T. 3.0.1. and its pilot took flight towards the city to cause massive destruction!

"If it rampages in the city, a lot of innocent civilians will be in danger!" said Yamato. Before they could react, a horde of Moebas surrounded them. "Moebas. There's no time!" said Leo. Shirou and Larry started to violently shoot them as they advanced on their position. "Bueno. Then let us take care of them." said Larry. "Your mission is more important." said Shirou. He gave them a salute. "Understood." said Sela. She returned the gesture.

"Whale!" "Shark!" "Lion!" "Elephant!" "Tiger!" "Rhinos!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Shark, Lion, Elephant and Tiger rotated their Zyuoh Changers to complete the cube picture. The World pressed the button on the end of the grip of Zyuoh The Light against his thigh twice and turned the cube to the rhino picture. Whale folded the Whale Change Gun in to its cube mode, pulled the grip twice and fired.

"Zyuoh Cube!"

From Zyuland, the Zyuoh Cubes entered the fray.

"Cube Eagle!" "Cube Shark!" "Cube Lion!" "Cube Elephant!" "Cube Tiger!" "Cube Gorilla!" "Cube Rhinos!" "Cube Crocodile!" "Cube Wolf!" "Cube Whale!"

"Cube Giraffe!" "Cube Mole!" "Cube Bear!" "Cube Bat!"

They entered their respective cockpits with Whale taking the legendary Whale Zyuoh Cube and The World taking the modified Rhinos. Prepared for some dangerous action, the Zyuohgers rode to battle in pursuit of G.I.F.T., leaving Shirou and Larry to dispatch the Moebas using the human technology.

In the city, there was peace, like the citizens of Japan remembered nothing of the Frozen Forest. Perhaps that was for the best. Unfortunately, that peace was about to end as G.I.F.T. appeared in the sky, obscuring the sun and casting a shadow. "Firing featherstorm arrows." said Nalia. She flicked a switch on the control panel, utilizing the wing feathers as large piercing projectile blades. Flapping the wings, a rain of razors descended on the unsuspecting civilians. Skyscrapers were impaled with terrifying ease and the first human victim was instantaneously reduced to a pile of ash and bones, prompting everyone to run for their lives screaming, some of whom were unsuccessful in their attempt to escape. Coming to the rescue, the valiant Whale soared through the sky and blasted the wings with its side mounted torpedo cannons, interrupting her spree of destruction. "Persistent trash." said Nalia. She aimed and fired the electric blue chest lazer at him in retaliation, knocking him back a long distance. "No way! Last time, it was no match for Whale!" said Whale, surprised by its massive increase in power. "Yamato, we need to combine all the Zyuoh Cubes to fight evenly." said Elephant. "You're right. Doubutsu Zen Gattai!" called Whale. It was time to form the ultimate giant 14 part combination!

Whale folded the Whale Change Gun in to its cube mode, pulled the grip thrice and fired.

"Eagle, Shark, Lion, Elephant, Tiger, Gorilla, Crocodile, Wolf, Rhinos, Whale, Giraffe, Mole, Bear, Bat!"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! Wild Tousai Dodeka King!"

It was an epic battle between two titans! Wild Tousai Dodeka King blasted G.I.F.T. with the Giraffe Bazooka, G.I.F.T. swerved to the side and swooped down towards Dodeka King, striking true with its talons and landing with its back turned. "Activating deathmetal swords." said Nalia. G.I.F.T.'s hands became double-edged melee weapons, so sharp they looked like they could cut even diamond like hot butter. Dodeka King turned around and raised its right arm to shoot but G.I.F.T. countered by dismembering Giraffe and Bat. Indeed, they were so sharp that they could dice the giant robot in to literal cubes. "Uh hey, Tusk, I don't think your plan is working cause we just lost our right arm." said Tiger. "Fudge! What do we do now?" asked The World. "Just keep attacking, dammit! We can fight with one arm!" said Lion. They aimed for its torso with the Mole Drill but its hard armor was too tough to penetrate. G.I.F.T. punished by dismembering its remaining arm, severing Mole and Bear from the Gattai. "Okay, this is officially bad." said Tiger. "I can't think of a good counter strategy here, not with just these useless clunky legs. It's impossible, we can't continue like this." said Elephant.

G.I.F.T. prepared to land another critical strike, when out of nowhere, Octopus Zyuoh Cube flanked from behind and knocked it off balance. "Yo, thanks for the backup, Octopus!" said Lion. "I have an idea. Abort the Gattai and use Octopus instead." said Shark. "Worth a shot." said Whale. He aborted and Dodeka King split in to Zyuoh King, Zyuoh Wild and Tousai Zyuoh. Whale Zyuoh Cube and the auxiliaries withdrew from the fight due to taking too much damage, leaving Zyuoh Whale to operate Zyuoh King alongside Shark and Lion. "Doubutsu Busou!" called Whale. Big King Sword detached from Zyuoh King and Octopus replaced it, becoming a new head and missile loaded tentacle propellers. Zyuoh King Octopus was very agile and it evaded G.I.F.T.'s deadly attacks as they fought in the sky, although they were still outclassed. Octopus' missiles homed in on the target but they didn't even scratch the armor. Zyuoh Wild provided anti-air support using Big Wild Cannon but G.I.F.T. was just tanking everything they threw at it.

Meanwhile, Shirou and Larry continued their ranged combat against the Moebas and Bud in Zyuman form was also fighting them with his Eaglizer. "Shirou, let me borrow that." said Larry, pointing to the bayonet holstered to Shirou's vest. "You got it, dude." said Shirou. He threw it like a knife, stabbing a Moeba in the heart. Before the corpse fell, Larry calmly retrieved the bayonet and attached it under the barrel of his sub machine gun. "Gracias." he said to the unresponsive body. He started to hack through some more Moebas and then charged one in to a nearby tree, impaling it. "Hasta la vista, don't come back." he said, as they were destroyed in the following explosion with his back turned. "You're not a bad shot, Larry, but your specialty is fighting up close." said Shirou. "I can feel my life slipping away, I wanted to make use of it." said Larry. He plucked a hair from his head, noticing it had started to decay again.

Bud contacted the rangers through his Zyuoh Changer Final. "Everyone, give me a status update. Over." he said. "Not good. We're getting our tails kicked out here! Over." responded Shark. "Dammit. If only there was some way to beat the hell out of this shiny punk! Over." said Lion. "Copy that. Reinforcements are en route to your position. Over and out." said Bud. He hung up. "What reinforcements, Bud?" asked Shirou. "Whatever we got." he replied. "If they can't manage with their freakin' huge robots, then there ain't nothing going to help them now!" said Shirou. He wasn't ready to accept defeat, but the road to victory wasn't rushing in to battle without a plan. "Maybe you're right. Even so, if we're going to die today no matter what, we should die trying. That's the only way to live!" said Bud. His words of courage stirred something, as the feather of Zyuoh Raven started to glow white in his hand. "We need to hurry!" said Bud. "Okay, I'll summon a Chinook to this LZ." said Shirou.

Back to the giant robot scene, the heroes were barely holding their own as they risked their lives to defend the city from further destruction. Zyuoh Wild had saved Zyuoh King Octopus from a few close calls by distracting G.I.F.T. with its cannon and now Nalia was tired of their futile game of attrition, despite taking no damage from any hits they landed. "Talon strike." she said, as she commanded G.I.F.T. to swoop down towards Wild, ready to strike without mercy. "I'll shield you!" said The World, intercepting the attack with Tousai Zyuoh and biting G.I.F.T. using the Crocodile arm. "I'm not going to lose right now!" He was holding it back but Tousai Zyuoh couldn't sustain the position for much longer. G.I.F.T. blasted it with the chest lazer at point blank range, dismantling Tousai Zyuoh and recoiling backwards. "Misao!" called Elephant, as his friend was demorphed and incapacitated. Elephant wanted to make sure his friend was okay, but he knew stopping G.I.F.T. was their top priority. They couldn't afford to focus on anything else. "Tusk, did you find any weakpoints?" asked Tiger. "Nothing. That thing is virtually indestructible!" replied Elephant.

In their time of need, a Chinook flew in from over the horizon carrying Bud, Shirou and Larry in the cargo bay. The rear door opened on a view of destruction below and Bud prepared to jump. "Are you sure about this, amigo?" asked Larry. "I have to finish what I started." said Bud. "You could lose your life." said Larry. Bud offered Larry a final handshake, which he accepted. "See you on the flipside." said Bud. "You're a good man, Bud." said Larry. "And a great soldier. As Larry would say, buenos dias." said Shirou. Larry frowned at the incorrect use of Espanol. "That's not how it works." he replied flatly. Bud smiled at their shenanigans before diving in to the danger. "This is as far as we go, time to get out of here." said Shirou. The masked pilot turned the Chinook around and flew them out of the area.

"Bird!"

"Honno Kakusei!"

Bud dived through the orange light, as the ranger suit materialized on his body, immediately skipping to Instinct Awakening Mode. Zyuoh King Octopus was now the target and G.I.F.T. launched a folly of murderous arrows at them. Although they dodged, only barely, the arrows continued on their trajectory towards Bird. "I don't want to get impaled on any of those." said Bird. He elegantly glided through the projectiles in freefall and used the turbulence of wind produced by Octopus' rotation to propel himself in G.I.F.T.'s direction. He took out Raven's feather, still glowing. "Cubegirl modified your emotional response algorithm. She did what I could not. You have inherited the good and bad parts of people. You are whole. That's why I don't regret creating you!" he said. Bird landed in the chest cavity and planted it inside while shouting a hot-blooded battle cry of justice. "You don't want to be there." said Nalia. She blasted him at point blank range with the chest lazer. Even for a giant robot, it was devastating. For Bird, the damage was far, far worse. He was demorphed and fell not like a bird, but a rock, to the ground with a crashing thud. Either he was dead or he soon would be, as he lay unconscious and severely injured, body broken inside and out.

Misao, clutching his broken rib, stumbled out of the damaged Rhinos and found Bud's body. "Bud, open your eyes!" he shouted. There was no response. Despite his own injuries, he tried his best to carry him to a hospital.

At the worst time, Octopus' rotation stopped working as the rangers realized a propeller was hit. Now they were grounded alongside Zyuoh Wild and there was nowhere to run from G.I.F.T.'s next attack. "Hang in there, guys. It's not over until we're defeated!" said Shark. "This is the climax." said Nalia. She prepared to strike them with the deathmetal swords, however, the robot suddenly malfunctioned and the swords were no longer operational. "What is this?" asked Nalia.

"Self destruct protocol activated."

Nalia was panicking. "No, override self destruct protocol! Override now!" she commanded. The system didn't obey and continued the countdown from 60 seconds. Frustrated, she teleported to safety, leaving the imminent explosion to wipe out the rest of the city. "Unbelievable. It stopped." said Elephant. "But why, when it was so close to beating us?" asked Tiger. "I stopped it." said a familiar voice. Within G.I.F.T.'s core, Zyuoh Raven's consciousness had manifested! "Raven, you." said Whale in surprise. "Wait, _you_ saved us?!" asked Lion incredulously. "Not quite. In less than a minute, this shell will explode. The city will be devastated, unless I reach an isolated location to-" started Raven. "To end your life. Permanently." finished Shark. She knew exactly what he was planning to do. "No way! You saw the error of your ways, you shouldn't have to- you could have started over!" said Tiger. "I could never redeem myself in this life, my existence has only caused suffering. It's only fitting, that I, Corvus, Zyuoh Raven, Champion of the Death, die. Only then can I realize my purpose, in sacrifice, that will be my final act." said Raven.

Lion crashed his fist against the terminal. "Dammit, you punk, I'm getting really ticked off with all this stupid sacrifice stuff!" he growled. "I think this is the last time. He wants to do this for us, so we can live to fight another day and be the heroes we were meant to be." said Shark. G.I.F.T. 3.0.1. spanned its wings and took flight. "Correct, our destinies are different, yet connected. Farewell, mortals, this realm belongs to you now." said Raven. He had entrusted the happiness and safety of everybody to the planet's strongest champions. The Zyuohgers watched from their cockpits as he surpassed the boundary of the atmosphere and exploded like a star.

Now, drifting in an empty space, his life had come full circle. Freed from his metallic prison, he had assumed the form of Zyuoh Raven for the last time, a full-fledged Zyuohger. As his data faded away, he was finally satisfied. "Whatever lies beyond the Frozen Forest, I'll see you there." he said softly. His core shattered like crystal and his soul, granted by divine source, departed for the mysterious afterlife.

And so, the Reckoning of the Raven was over for good.

However, as with death, it was not truly the end. The story of his legacy was just beginning.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I drafted this before Just Cause 4 came out and now I like Larry's bad*ss scene even more. Anyway, you're probably wondering where the story goes from here now that Zyuoh Raven is redeemed and dead and the Deathgaliens are back to the drawing board. I won't spoil anything but it involves the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Find out what that means next time, in Chapter 14, the finale! Look forward to it!

And my most grateful thanks to anyone who took the time to read all these chapters. I hope my story was able to provide you with some entertainment. As always, feel safe to follow or fav. =3

Reviews are also appreciated, whether it's praise or critique, I'd like to hear your thoughts.


	14. Epilogue — Jun's Legacy

Hey everybody! Sorry for the late upload, there were unforeseen real life circumstances (a stomach ache) preventing me from meeting my usual schedule. Anyway, this is the last chapter of the story and due to the amount of time I spend drafting, I probably won't have anything else to upload for a while. I can't predict when I will have something new but all I can suggest is to expect it in the future. I definitely enjoyed writing and sharing this with you guys and if you enjoyed reading then that's even more gratifying and you have my thanks.

I hope you enjoy Chapter 14, the finale. And remember to always feel safe to follow or fav. =3

* * *

 **Epilogue — Jun's Legacy**

3 days had passed since Zyuoh Raven's sacrifice. It was morning and Yamato, Sela, Leo, Tusk and Amu were doing chores at their home, Atelier Mori. Mario was out, buying materials for his next project, so he asked them to help him out with the upkeep of his property. He never remembered anything about the Frozen Forest happening, nor did anybody else in Japan. All they knew was that a giant robot showed up out of nowhere and started murdering civilians. As for those who lost their lives before then, they were treated as mysterious disappearances, their loved ones would never have closure. It left a wound in the Zyuohgers and sometimes, they couldn't help thinking about those people.

Mario's absence proved convenient, as Misao and the obvious Zyuman, Larry, entered without warning to interrupt their labor. "Buenos dias, amigos, there is good news!" said Larry. "First of all, I'm back to my old self, as you can see. My rib still stings a little sometimes, but the doctor assured me it'll heal up soon." said Misao. "Hey, good for you, buddy!" said Leo. The five residents applauded their friend's recovery. "And what of Bud?" asked Yamato. "He came out of his coma a few hours ago. He's recovering quickly and they plan to discharge him tomorrow. I owe Misao a great debt for saving his life." said Larry. "Oh, you don't owe me nothing. Saving people is what we live for, y'know." said Misao, absolving the debt. "Even so, I'll always be grateful to you. Anytime you guys need me, I'll be sure to come to your aid." said Larry.

After updating them on the welfare of their ally, he turned his attention to Sela. There was another matter that concerned her specifically. "Before I take my leave, Shirou asked me to send Sela his invitation." he said. "Shirou did?" asked Sela. "That time, when he just disappeared after the fight with G.I.F.T., I never thought he'd come back. If he's willing to talk now, he must have something very important to discuss with you." said Tusk. "Si, I expect he has a good reason. He wants to meet on Jun's yacht, this is the time and address." said Larry. He handed Sela an envelope containing the information. Even though they won the battle for Earth's future, there were still a few loose ends. In order to see them resolved, she knew this was the opportunity she needed. Not just her, but everyone wanted closure for that event. "I'll hear him out." she said. She opened the envelope and examined the contents.

A few hours later and now it was afternoon which as Shirou specified in his letter was when the meeting was arranged to take place. Sela navigated through the docks, looking for 'Jun', where she would find him. The distinct stench of saltwater and fish nearby made her realize, it was lunchtime and she was hungry, her ears attuned to the growling in her stomach. Maybe he would have food to spare, she hoped. Eventually, she found Jun, the boat, and Shirou was there waiting for her arrival. "So this is what you inherited from Jun. Eccentric, naming her after himself." said Sela. "If I had a unisex name, I would have done as he did. I presume unisex is common in your culture, given Zyumen's names often derive from Latin or Greek nouns." said Shirou. "Hey, why did you call me out?" asked Sela, a little irritated. "It's a sensitive matter. Come aboard and I'll explain the situation." he replied. As he entered his lounge, Sela rolled her eyes and followed him, albeit reluctantly.

Inside, there was a table with a laptop, chairs and more importantly, a stocked refrigerator. Hearing the occasional growling, Shirou opened it and retrieved a fresh can of mackerel. "Here, you should probably eat this." he said, giving Sela the cold served fish. "Thanks." she replied, before immediately feasting on it. Shirou then proceeded towards the cockpit and started the boat's engine. "Are we going somewhere?" asked Sela. "Sorry, Sela, this ain't a social call. Before I can disclose any details to you, we need to get away from potential spies." he replied. They weren't headed for anywhere specific, more like the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by sea where they could talk in privacy.

After reaching the isolated area, Shirou returned to the lounge and sat on a chair opposite where Sela was sitting, with the table and laptop between them. "Okay, so we're all alone, I think you owe me some answers. About why you disappeared that day." demanded Sela. "Of course, I was afraid you wouldn't come. You're right, you deserve to know the truth and I feel obliged to honor that. I assure you, I had a good reason for taking off the way I did." said Shirou. He took out a Black Ops issue USB memory and placed it on the table. "What's this?" asked Sela. "That day, after G.I.F.T. 3.0.1. was destroyed, I went back on my own to look for Cubegirl. There was no trace of her, but I did find this under the Link Cube. It's a dead drop Jun left behind, 'dead' being quite literal in this case. Anyway, check it out." said Shirou. He inserted it in the laptop's port and opened the file within. On the monitor, there was now a map of their world with a series of numbers, including Jun's name and those of the intended recipients. "Hey, these are co-ordinates." said Sela. "That's right. They pinpoint a Coalescence facility in Singapore. It may hold the answers we're looking for." said Shirou. "I'm not so sure. Something doesn't add up." said Sela. She walked out to the back deck to clear her head with fresh air.

"I don't understand how Jun could have acquired this intel while he was dead, dormant, or whatever. And I don't really get why he would want me to know about it. All we have is this dead drop from beyond the grave, which could mean anything." said Sela, looking out at the calm waters. Shirou stood beside her, disappointed that he couldn't provide her with an adequate explanation. "Despite appearances, Jun was actually a qualified marine biologist. That's how he knew what you were and why he entrusted you with that weapon." he said. Sela took out her Shark Jawzer, recalling what Jun told her.

"It's called the Shark Jawzer. When Corvus infected me, I saw it in a vision and so I ordered it on the 54i black market. Didn't tell Shirou since he hates 54i, like, a lot. Anyway, I think you should have it."

She figured there was more to it than he told her. "Jun claimed he saw it in a vision. Except now, I believe that was only a fraction of the truth. I mean, with a name like 'Shark Jawzer' and an ability to reproduce ammo like a shark spawns new teeth, it's like he intended for me to have it before he even knew who I was. This was his vision, not Corvus, not the Link Cube. A weapon designed to channel the power unique to my kind." said Sela. "Very insightful, although I wonder about the legitimacy of his benefactor." said Shirou. Sela hesitated for a moment, worried about how Shirou would react to finding that out. "He told me what happened between you and Yuki. I can't imagine how hard that was for you, losing your girlfriend and being the one who pulled the trigger." said Sela, changing the subject. Her sentiment was sincere though. "We were close. But she chose her side. Then Corvus infected her and I did what I was trained to do. Jun consoled me, until I lost him as well. I was the only fully organic human in our party and I was left alone. I didn't realize until now how wrong I was. Even though he's dead, he's still here, he's still my partner. Forever. He's given us this lead and I'm going to follow it!" he said. The determined man then looked over at Sela. "What about you?" he asked.

Sela's desire to seek out the answers was matched by her commitment to keeping the world safe from harm. "As much as I really want to, Shirou, I just can't. It's not an option. As long as the Deathgaliens remain a threat to innocent lives, I can't go to Singapore, not while they could be planning their next move even as we speak. Zyuoh Raven was proof that formidable opponents can come from any place at any time, our stories intertwined in a way nobody could have predicted. So I need to stay with my team and I believe, together, we can be ready to take on whatever new challenges we face. That's my duty." she said. Although it wasn't the decision Shirou was expecting, his expression showed that he was impressed nonetheless by her sense of priorities. "Very well, I have no intention of standing in the way of your mission. We may fight on different fronts but we're both soldiers connected by our hearts of justice. And I'm honored to have served with you." he said, saluting her respectfully. Sela grinned at his compliment before returning the gesture. "Have a safe journey!" she said.

They parted ways. Shirou rallied a unit to raid the Coalescence facility in Singapore while Sela remained in Japan to continue the fight against the Deathgaliens. Speaking of the Deathgaliens, one of their generals, Cubal, was already plotting his next sinister agenda on the Sagittariark.

He tipped over the operating table in his lab, now a mess of blood and scrap. It seemed he had taken his defeat hard. "Those accursed Zyuohgers and Nalia! Once more, another perfectly flawless plan shattered by their interference! Now I have only one last card up my sleeve. Zyuohgers, Nalia, you will become my unwitting pawns and this time, Ginis will fall. I vow on my life, Ginis will fall, dammit!" he said. Having exhausted his tantrum, he left his littered laboratory to set the trap.

The day concluded with no further noteworthy events. And then, the following day, dawn broke in Singapore!

Another lab, this one illuminated in white and operations within it conducted and overseen by human scientists. Cubegirl was on an operating table, sedated, her body still intact although maybe not for much longer. Two surgeons wearing masks were preparing the tools to dismantle her. "So what kind of maniac would do this to a kid?" asked the younger in perfect English. "Cordis Die, 54i, some other terrorist faction, I don't care. I'm more interested in whatever's in her DNI that the doctor wants so much." replied the elder using the same language. Suddenly, they were alerted by the cry of sirens and the lighting changed to flashing red of danger.

"BANGBANGBANG"

"AAAAAAH!"

That was when the younger started to panic. "Oh no, they're inside the facility. I want to get out of here!" he said. The elder slapped him in the face with a glove. "Shut the hell up and do your damn job, you do what I tell you! Proceed with the operation, I'll go check out the noises." he commanded. The younger felt compelled by fear to comply as he finished filing the scalpel, trying his best to keep his hands steady.

The elder investigated the corridor just beyond the room and shut the door behind him. Smoke was accumulating, limiting his vision, but he could hear the hissing sound of its source nearby, a military issue smoke screen he figured. He was promptly ambushed from behind by a man in armor and a mask, restraining him with an assault rifle pressed against his throat, loose enough that it wouldn't inhibit his ability to breathe and talk, yet tight enough to make him squirm. There were others as well, watching his six. "Where's the girl?!" he demanded. "Screw you!" replied the elder. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and slipped free, immediately taken down by a few bullets through his chest. "Get that door!" ordered the masked man.

They bust through ready to fire upon any who posed a threat, finding the younger as the only conscious person in the room. Dreading their wrath, he dropped the scalpel he was holding. "Please spare my life! I won't resist!" he begged, too feeble to challenge them as his senior did. "Then get your hands over your head and in the corner, now! Or you'll end up just like your cohort!" ordered the masked man. He obeyed and another soldier pointed his gun at him waiting for a struggle that wasn't going to happen. The masked man turned his attention to Cubegirl and engaged the communicator on his vest. "Tsubasa-sempai, we have secured the V.I.P. and she is unharmed. Over." he said in Japanese tongue. "Copy that. You are clear to extract her. Over and out." replied Shirou.

The Black Ops soldier detached her from the machine that was giving her anesthetic and slowly, she came awake. "Take it easy, kid. You're safe now. Do you have a name?" asked the masked man. Cubegirl tried to assemble her memories and thoughts to provide an answer. She remembered. Indeed, she did have a name. At least, it was somebody's name.

She responded thus:

"Jun."


End file.
